- 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


*  THE 

POIAR  STAR, 

AND 

CENTRE  OF  COMFORT, 

BFJOHN  WILSON,  1).  D. 

CONTAINING 

'Several  very  admirable  Sermons,  together  with 

the  beautiful  works  o^  William  M'Ewenf 

I).  1).  with  a  paraphrase  on  the  book  of 

Job,   and    also     a  select    private 

Family  Physician,  which  no 

doubt,  will  be  the  means  of 

saving  many  lives  in 

the  course  of  the 

present  age* 

WITH  BEx\UTIFUL,  MORAL,  HISTORY. 

Jlnd  also   heavenly   Sermons  and  Hymns  far 

children;  in  short,  the  calculation  is  to 

suit  from  the  learned  philoso- 

pher to  the  child. 


PUBLISHED  BY  JAMES  S 

Price  one  dollar  and  twenty  Jive  cents. 


.it  ii  v    JouN  LOW^ 
MDCCCXVI* 


Southern  District  of  New -York,  ss> 

y&t  1C  Hemrmterrt),  that  on  the  twenty-sixth 
day  in  ihiijy,  hi  the  ibrty -first  year  of  the  Inde- 
pendence of  the  United  Stales  of  America, 
James  Sharan  of  the  said  District  hath  deposit- 
ed in  this  office  the  title  of  a  book,  the  right 
whereof  he  claims  as  proprietor,  in  the  words 
following  to  wit: — "  The  Polar  Star,  and  Centre 
of  Comfort,"  by  John  Wilson,  I).  I),  containing 
several  very  admirable  sermons,  together  with 
the  beautiful  works  of  William  M'Ewen,  D.  D. 
with  a  paraphrase  on  the  book  of  Job,  and  also 
a  select  private  family  physiehin,  which  no 
doubt  will  be  the  means  of  saving  many  lives  in 
the  course  of  the  present  age — with  beautiful 
moral  History,  and,  also  heavenly  Sermons  and 
Hymns  for  children ;  in  short,  the  calculation  is 
to  suit  from  the  learned  philosopher  to  the  child. 
In  conformity  to  the  Act  of  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  entitled  "An  Act  for  the  en- 
couragement of  Learning?  by  securing  the  copies 
of  Maps,  Charts,  and  Books  to  the  authors  and 
proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  time 
therein  mentioned."'  And  also  to  an  Act,  en- 
titled "  an  Act,  supplementary  to  an  Act,  entit- 
led an  Act  for  the  encouragement  of  Learning, 
by  securing  the  copies  of  Maps,  Charts,  and 
Books  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such 
eopies,  during  the  times  therein  mentioned,  and 
extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  de- 
signing, engraving,  and  etching  historical  and 
•ther  prints."  THERON  KUDD, 

Clerk  of  the  Sotithmi  District  of  New-fork, 


THE  PUBLISHER'S  J1DDEES8. 

I  DO  not  think  it  expedient  to  detain  the 
ous  reader  with  a  long  preamble  of  a  preface,  as 
injustice,  it  can  no  more  than  represent  the  inte- 
rior part  of  the  work.  As  a  preface  is  seldom 
paid  much  attention  to,  till  after  the  body  of 
the  hook  is  read,  I  \vill  observe  by  way  of  an 
address,  that  I  trust  the  learned,  into  whose 
hands  this  work  may  come,  will  not  think  hard 
of  my  inserting  useful  articles  in  the  back  part 
of  the  work  for  the  use  of  children,  knowing 
that  the  highest  learned,  and  most  illustrious, 
kings,  queens  and  emperors,  were  once  little 
children  themselves*  just  progressing  in  the 
first  part  of  youthful  literature,  and  no  doubt 
were  oft  times  anxious  of  looking  into  books  be- 
longing even  to  the  learned  and  accomplished 
character.  And  if  these  children  should  find  in 
those  books,  such  suitable  information  for  their 
young  and  tender  minds  as  they  will  find  in  this, 
the  indulgence,  no  doubt  in  process  of  time* 
would  be  well  bestowed.  As  for  my  own  part,  I 
have  been  remarkably  fond  of  children  ever 
since  I  was  one  myself,  and  a  partner  with  them 
in  their  little  innocent  amusements  throughout 
the  day,  so  may  every  parent  show  good  ex- 
amples to  their  children;  and  implant  at  an  ear 


VI.. 

ly  period  the  tree  of  grace  and  liberty  into  their 
youthful  hearts*  never  more  to  he  eradicated, 
hut  flourish  in  immortal  bloom.  And  when  it 
falls,  may  it  fall  into  that  glorious  assylum  of 
comfort,  where  we  all  hope  to  arrive  at  one  time 
or  other. 

The  favourable  patronage  which  this  work  has 
met  with,  demands  a  grateful  acknowledgment, 
and  I  am  happy  to  find  so  many,  even  of  the 
youthful  part  of  the  creation,  so  liberal  in 
patronising  a  religious  work  of  this  nature,  and 
it  is  remarkable  to  find  so  many  religious  fe- 
males in  one  city  as  there  is  in  New-York  ;  for 
any  thing  that  hears  that  name,  of  a  book  kind, 
they  are  very  anxious  of  having  in  their  fami- 
lies. 

The  number  of  subscribers  obtained  in  New- 
York  for  this  book,  is  nine  hundred,  five  hundred 
of  which  are  ladies  ;  eight  hundred  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  seven  hundred  in  Baltimore,  for 
which  I  return  them  my  hearty  thanks,  and 
sincerely  hope  that  the  medical  part  of  this 
work  will  be  instrumental  of  saving  many  lives, 
and  the  religious  part  many  souls,  for  which  it 
is  intended. 

I  am,  gentlemen, 
Your  most  grateful 

And  very  humble  servant, 

JAMES  SHARAN, 


THE  POLAR  STAK,  fijc, 

A  Prophecy  of  the  Increase  of  Christ's 
Kingdom. 

SERMON  I. 

On  JOHN  iii.  30.     He  must  increase. 

THESE  are  the  words  of  John  Baptist  con 
eerning  Jesus  Christ,  upon  the  occasion  of  his 
disciples  complaining  of  Christ's  baptizing, 
which  drew  great  multitudes  to  him,  whereby 
they  feared  their  master  might  come  to  be  dark- 
ened or  deserted.  But  the  humble  man,  instead 
of  resenting  it  as  his  disciples  did,  falls  a  com* 
mending  Christ,  and  abasing  himself;  yea,  he 
professeth  the  greatest  satisfaction  in  the  ad 
vancement  of  Christ  and  his  interest  in  the 
world,  and  compareth  himself  to  a  friend  of  the 
Bridegroom,  ver.  26.  that  rejoiceth  in  the  suc- 
cess of  the  match,  which  he  had  been  labouring 
to  promote  :  It  being  honour  enough  for  the 
most  eminent  minister  of  Christ,  to  bean  instru- 

A 


8  THE    POLAll   STAR. 

ment  to  recommend  his  glorious  Master,  and  to 
court  and  make  ready  a  bride  for  him. 

In  ver.  30.  where  my  text  is,  ±.  John  foretels 
the  increase  of  Christ's  kingdom  and  glory,  as  a 
thing  highly  just  and  equitable  in  itself,  and  most 
agreeable  and  satisfying  to  him,  and  all  other 
friends  of  the  Bridegroom,  "  He  must  increase ;" 
that  is,  his  interest  shall  grow  in  the  world,  his 
name  shall  spread,  his  throne  be  raised,  his 
crown  shall  flourish,  his  dominion  be  enlarged 
and  his  subjects  multiplied.  You  think  he  hath 
gained  a  great  deal  already,  but  this  is  nothing 
to  what  he  will  gain  :  And  all  this  in  conse- 
/juence  of  the  decree  of  God,  and  the  prophecies 
recorded  concerning  the  Messiah  in  Psalm  ii. 
and  Isxii.  &c.  so  that  there  is  a  necessity  for  it, 
*'  He  must  increase." 

2.  John  foretels  the  consequence  of  this  in- 
crease to  himself,  "  I  must  decrease  ;  that  is,  I 
must  be  darkened  and  disappear. "  He  is  not  at 
all  displeased  to  see  himself  obscure  and  out- 
shined  by  the  blessed  Messiah,  whose  servant 
and  forerunner  he  owned  he  was.  No,  no,  says 
he,  Let  him  shine  forth  as  the  rising  sun,  and 
let  me  disappear  like  the  morning  star  :  Let  his 
name  be  raised,  and  mine  depressed,  I  cheerfully 
submit  to  it,  I  am  contented  to  be  any  thing,  or 
to  be  nothing,  so  that  •Christ  may  be  All. 


THE   POLAR    STAR. 

Doc.  The  increase  of  Christ's  kingdom  and 
glory  in  the  world,  is  absolutely  certain  and  ne- 
cessary. It  must  infallibly  be,  for  God  hath 
said  it,  Jer.  xxiii.  5.  "  A  king  shall  reign  and 
prosper  in  the  earth,"  Psalms  Ixxii.  8.  *•  He 
shall  have  dominion  from  sea  to  sea,  Psalm 
cxxxij.  18.  "Upon  himself  shall  his  crown 
flourish." 

In  discoursing  from  this  subject,  I  shall, 

I.  Enquire  what  is  that  increase  of  Christ's 
kingdom  and  glory,  which  we  may  warrantably 
look  for  ? 

II.  What  are  the  times  and  seasons  of  this  in- 
crease ? 

III.  What  are  the  reasons  why  Christ  must 
thus  increase  ? 

IT.  Make  application. 

I.  As  to  the  first.  What  is  the  increase  here 
meant  ? 

First,  Negatively,  it  is  not  to  be  understood, 

1.  Of  any  increase  of  Christ's  essential  glory 
as  God  ;  for  this  is  impossible,  he  being  infinite, 
and  therefore  the  same  yesterday,   and  to-day, 
and  for  ever,  without  any  variableness  or  sha- 
dow of  turning. 

2.  It  is  not  meant  that  Christ's  kingdom  shall 
increase  or  flourish  in  outward  splendour  and 
greatness,  like  one  of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world. 
No,  Christ* s  kingdom  being  not  of  this 


40  THE   POXAK   STAB* 

its  glory  is  of  a  spiritual  and  heavenly  nature? 
and  peculiar  to  itself  alone* 

Neither  is  it  to  be  thought  that  the  increase 
of  Christ's  kingdom  is  to  be  constant  or  alike  at 
all  times,  or  without  decay  or  diminution  at  any 
time.  No,  no,  for  sometimes  it  seems  to  be 
brought  very  low,  yea,  so  low  was  it  brought 
under  the  Antiehristian  apostacy,  that  it  was 
scarce  visible. 

Zdly.  Positively,  the  increase  spoke  of  in  the 
text,  is  to  be  understood  of  the  flourishing  of 
Christ's  mediatory  kingdom,  and  of  the  spread- 
ing of  his  manifestative  glory  in  the  world,  which 
doth  consist  chiefly  in  these  things  : 

1.  In  the  increase  and  spreading  of  gospel- 
light  through  the  world,  so  that  the  dark  places 
of  the  earth  shall  be  enlightened  with  the  knowl- 
edge of  Christ ;  and  those  places  which  had  but 
twilight  discoveries  of  him,  shall  attain  to 
brighter  views  of  his  excellency  and  usefulness, 
and  to  a  clearer  insight  into  the  gospel  mys- 
teries, and  the  way  of  salvation  through  Christ 
and  his  righteousness  imputed  to  the  sons  of 
Adam.  Then  the  Sun  of  righteousness  shall 
arise  with  more  powerful  beams  of  light  and 
heat  upon  his  churches  than  before,  and  at 
length  with  such  clearness  and  efficacy,  as  to 
scatter  Antiehristian  darkness,  error,  idolatry, 
superstitions,  dead  forms  and  ceremonies  of 


THE   POLAR    STAK.  11 

man's  invention.  For  how  is  it  else  that  the 
man  of  sin  shall  be  consumed  by  the  Spirit  of 
Christ's  mouth,  and  destroyed  by  the  brightness 
of  his  coming,  2.  Thess.  ii.  8.  but  by  the  out- 
pouring of  bis  Spirit  with  his  word  preached, 
and  by  the  bright  and  convincing  appearances 
of  the  Redeemer  in  the  glory  of  gospel-light  I 
Then  is  it  that  Christ  shall  increase,  and  his 
kingdom  be  enlarged,  when  "  the  earth  shall  be 
filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  as  the  Maters  cover  the  sea,'*  according 
to  the  prophecy  of  Habakkuk,  Hab.  ii.  1*. 

2.  This  increase  takes  in  the  Lord's  furnish- 
ing his  church  with  many  "  burning  and  shining 
lights,  able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament,5' 
to  be  eminent  instruments  of  displaying  his  glory 
in  the  world.  When  he  is  signally  to  increase 
his  kingdom,  he  will  rise  up  and  qualify  minis- 
ters for  the  work  ;  who  shall  be  men  of  large 
hearts,  fluent  tongues,  and  public  spirits  ;  shin- 
ing holiness  and  piety  ;  undaunted  courage  and 
zeal  for  God  ;  inspired  with  a  burning  love  to 
Christ  and  the  souls  of  men  ;  inclined  to  prefer 
the  good  of  Jerusalem  to  their  chiefest  joy  ;  and 
willing  to  run  all  hazards  by  sea  and  land  ;  to  ven- 
ture all  that  is  dear  to  them  in  the  world,  their  re- 
putation, life,  and  all  the  comforts  of  it,  for  Jesus 
Christ  ;  and  cheerfully  content  to  spend  and  to 
lie  spent  for  the  increase  of  his  kingdom  and 


12  THE    POrAR   STAR. 

glory,  and  the  gathering  of  souls  to  him.  And 
particularly,  it  is  a  pledge  and  forerunner  of 
this  happy  increase,  when  the  Lord  sends  down 
his  Spirit  upon  students  and  expectants  of  the 
ministry  ;  graciously  touches  their  hearts,  and 
works  an  inward  change  upon  their  souls  ;  ani- 
mates them  with  sincere  principles  and  ends., 
and  gives  them  such  iaipressions  of  the  weight 
of  the  pastoral  office  and  the  charge  of  souls, 
that  they  will  not  run  thereto  unsent,  nor  have 
an  active  hand  in  thrusting  themselves  into  it, 
or  do  any  thing  to  heget  prejudices,  to  mar  their 
success  ;  but  will  wait  patiently  upon  the  Lord, 
till  he  shall  open  the  door,  and  clear  their  call 
to  enter  into  his  vineyard. 

3.  It  imports  the  increase  of  the  number  of 
Christ's  subjects  and  followers.  "  As  the  king's 
lionour  is  in  the  multitude  of  his  people,"  Prov. 
xiv.  2S.  so  Christ  is  glorified  in  the  multitude 
of  his  subjects.  Thus  shall  Christ's  kingdom 
and  glory  increase  in  the  latter  days,  when  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth  shall  become  the  king- 
doms of  the  Lord  ;  then  the  Jews  themselves 
shall  gather  to  Christ's  standard  lifted  up  in  the 
gospel,  together  with  the  fulness  of  the  Gen- 
tiles; they  shall  fly  to  it  in  clouds,  like  doves  to 
their  windows,  according  to  these  promises* 
Isaiah  ii.  2.  Micah  iv.  1,  2.  Jsa.  Ix.  8.  Rev.  ii.  150 
Souu  xi.  25,  26.  Plalm  cii.  ±5, 16*  22.  Now, 


THE   POLAR    STAR.  13 

what  is  it  that  will  bring  about  this  glorious  in- 
crease, but  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit  with 
the  gospel  ?  It  is  this  that  opens  a  great  and 
effectual  doer,  I.  Cor.  xvi.  9.  a  door  of  utterance 
in  ministers  mouths,  and  a  door  of  entrance  in 
hearers'  hearts.  Then  ministers5  spirits  shall 
be  enlarged,  and  their  tongues  loosed  in  preach- 
ing ;  and  hearers'  appetites  will  be  sharpened, 
and  their  hearts  melted  in  hearing.  When  the 
Lord  comes  with  his  Spirit,  and  gives  testimony 
to  the  word  of  his  grace,  then  the  arrows  of  the 
ii'ord  shall  pierce  the  conscience  ;  the  wounded 
shall  cry,  what  shall  we  do  to  be  saved?  And 
multitudes  shall  fall  under  ZIon's  King,  Psalm 
xiv.  5. 

4»:  Then  Christ's  kingdom  doth  increase, 
when  truth  triumphs  over  error,'  and  pure  doc- 
trine and  worship  prevail  against  superstition 
and  delusion.  There  arc  happy  seasons  when 
the  Lord  doth  magnify  his  power  in  binding  up 
the  winds  of  heresy  and  false  doctrine,  and  mak- 
ing pure  scripture  truths  to  be  relished  and  pre- 
ferred to  the  vain  opinions  and  false  reasonings 
of  men.  Then  he  causes  Infidelity,  Deism,  So- 
einianism,  Arianistn,  Popery,  and  Arminianism, 
to  be  rejected  and  abhorred  :  And  makes  men 
willing  to  subject  their  own  reason  to  divine  re- 
velation, and  to  fall  in  with  the  plain  truths  of 
the  wrord,  and  the  gospel  scheme  of  saving  lost 


14  THE   POXAR  STAR. 

sinners  by  the  righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
through  his  death  and  purchase  only.  Then  he 
brings  men  to  see  their  own  natural  impotency 
and  inability  to  do  any  thing  for  their  own  re- 
covery and  happiness:  so  that,  instead  of  ascrib- 
ing their  good  actions  and  attainments  to  the 
good  use  of  their  own  natural  powers,  they  are 
willing  to  acknowledge  God  in  every  thing  that 
is  good  in  them,  arid  to  ascribe  all  to  the  praise 
and  glory  of  his  free  grace,  who,  for  Christ's 
sake  works  in  them  both  to  will  and  io  do.  O 
that  Christ  and  his  truth  may  thus  increase  in 
the  world  ! 

5.  This  blessed  increase  of  Christ's  kingdom* 
includes  the  downfall  of  its  enemies,  and   espe- 
cially the  overthrow  of  Mahomet  and  Antichrist, 
the  ruin  of  Babylon,  and  the  binding  up  of  Satan^ 
that  grand  enemy  which  excites   all   the  rest, 
This  is   foretold.    Rev.  xx.  2.     Now  when  once 
that  time  comes,  that  Satan  shall  be  restrained 
and  bound  up  from  influencing  rulers  to  perse- 
cute or  oppress  the  church  :  from   instigating 
seducers  to  prop'^gate  errors;  and  from  exciting 
schismatieal  and  seditious   persons  to  sow   dis- 
sension among  the  followers  of  Jesus ;  then   the 
kingdom  of  Christ  will  greatly   increase  in  the 
world. 

6.  It  imports  the  increase  of  true  piety  and 
holiness   among  the  subjects   of  Christ's  king- 


THE  POLAR   STAR.  15 

dom  ;  when  they  shall  study  an  universal  con* 
formity  to  their  holy  Lord  and  Master,  and, 
like  him,  make  it  their  meat  and  drink  to  serve 
God,  and  do  his  will :  When  their  minds  and 
affections  shall  be  greatly  disengaged  from  the 
world,  and  the  strain  of  their  conversation  shall 
be  spiritual  and  heavenly :  Their  lives  shall 
shine  in  holiness  and  good  works;  and  their 
great  study  shall  be  to  have  their  spirits  and 
tempers,  their  walk  and  carriage,  in  all  respects 
such  as  becomes  the  gospel  of  Christ :  When 
they  shall  be  just,  righteous  and  true,  in  all 
their  dealings,  words,  and  actions ;  when  they 
shall  be  meek  and  lowly,  sober  and  temperate, 
patient  and  peaceable,  loving  and  forgiving, 
harmless  and  inoffensive,  in  all  the  parts  of  their 
conversation :  and  at  the  same  time  shall  abhor 
and  depart  from  all  lying  and  dissembling,  in- 
justice and  intemperance,  pride  and  ambition, 
slandering  and  backbiting,  malice  and  revenge, 
discord  and  strife,  and  whatever  else  is  contrary 
to  true  godliness,  and  the  pattern  of  the  holy 
Jesus  :  then  it  is  that  Christ's  kingdom  shall 
greatly  increase. 

7.  There  is  in  it  the  increase  of  zeal  and 
public-spiritedness  for  promoting  true  religion, 
and  of  Christian  courage  and  magnanimity  hi 
owning  and  avowing  of  Christ  and  his  cause 
before  the  warW.  When  Christians  shall  not 


16  ,  THE   P01AR   STAR. 

be  ashamed  of  a  crucified  Jesus,  or  of  his  truths, 
ordinances  or  people,  but  shall  openly  profess 
him,  glory  in  him,  and  whatever  belongs  to  him ; 
and  also  bear  testimony  against  every  thing  that 
he  hates  or  forbids ;  and  when  a  spirit  of  reforma- 
tion shall  be  poured  upon  all  ranks  and  degrees 
of  men  ;  so  as  e^ery  one  in  their  several  sta- 
tions and  capacities  slit  11  do  tjheir  utmost  to 
suppress  sin,  and  recommend  Christ  and  his 
ways  to  all  around  them  :  then  is  it  that  Christ's 
kingdom  and  glory  will  increase  in  the  world. 

HEAD  II.  I  proposed  next  to  enquire  into  the 
times  and  seasons  of  this  glorious  increase.  God 
liath  his  set  times  for  Zion's  increase  and  glory, 
which  none  can  stop,  Psalm  cii.  13.  The  apos- 
tolic age  was  the  most  remarkable  set  time  for 
it  that  ever  was,  when  every  sermon  made  new 
conquests  and  additions  to  the  church,  till  every 
city  and  corner  of  the  vast  Roman  empire  "was 
stored  with  Christians.  But,  besides  this,  we 
have  promises  of  a  more  full  and  ample  increase 
of  Christ's  kingdom  in  the  latter  days,  or  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  world  ;  of  which  Daniel 
speaks  in  his  prophecy,  Dan.  ii.  28,  44.  and  Dan. 
vii.  27.  There  he  tells  us  that  in  these  latter 
days  God  will  set  up  a  great,  large,  and  flourish- 
ing kingdom*  which  will  break  all  others  in  pie- 
ces, and  stand  for  ever.  That  he  means  the 
flourishing  state  and  glorious  increase  of  Christ's 


THE    PCKEAK    STAR.  17 

kingdom  towards  the  end  of  the  world,  is  clear 
from  this,  that  he  makes  the  latter  days  he 
speaks  of,  to  be  the  days  of  the  kings  which 
should  divide  the  south  monarchy,  or  Roman 
empire,  among  them.  This  empire  was  to  he 
divided  into  ten  kingdoms,  called  in  the  Revela- 
tion ten  horns,  and  represented  in  Dan.  ii.  41. 
by  the  ten  toes  of  the  feet  of  the  image.  Now, 
the  stone  cut  out  of  the  mouth,  which  is  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  is  said  to  smite  the  image 
upon  its  feet,  and  brake  them  in  pieces,  ver.  35, 
which  signifies  Christ's  conquering  the  Roman 
empire,  when  divided  into  ten  kings,  or  king- 
doms, called  ten  horns,  Rev.  xvii,  which  division 
toath  happened  in  the  latter  clays.  And  these 
horns,  or  kings  and  kingdoms,  being  joined  to- 
gether in  giving  their  power  to  the  beast,  or 
Roman  Antichrist  as  their  head,  do  preserve 
some  shadow  of  the  ancient  Roman  empire  or 
monarchy,  seeing  Antichrist's  power  is  almost 
as  extensive  as  the  emperor's  once  was.  Hence 
Antichrist  is  sometimes  called  the  image  of  the 
beast,  and  is  said  to  exercise  the  power  of  the 
first  beast,  Rev.  viii.  12.  14.  as  being  set  up  at 
Rome  in  place  of  the  Roman  empire  in  the  west, 
and  ^bearing  the  likeness  of  the  then  emperor 
that  reigned  there.  For  at  the  time  the  said 
emperor  lay  dead  and  wounded  by  the  sword,  or 
invasion  of  the  Goths  and  Vandals,  and  in  effect 


18  THE   POXAR   STAR. 

was  not,  the  Pope  got  up  and  mounted  the  beast? 
which  the  emperor  had  rode  upon  before  him, 
namely,  the  Roman  state,  for  that  is  the  body 
of  the  beast,  and  so  set  up  a  new  image  of  the 
old  Heathen  empire  at  Rome.  The  papal  power 
may  be  well  called  its  image,  as  being  like  it  in 
largeness  of  dominion,  in  form  of  government, 
and  in  tyranny  and  idolatry. 

When  Christ's  kingdom  was  first  set  up  in 
the  apostles  time,  the  Roman  empire  was  on  its 
iron  legs,  as  represented  in  Nebuchadnezzar's 
image,  that  is,  it  was  in  its  greatest  strength. 
But  in  the  latter  days,  which  Daniel  speaks  of, 
Dan.  ii.  28.  44.  when  Christ's  kingdom  is  won- 
derfully increased,  the  empire  is  in  its  feet  and 
toes,  that  is,  in  ten  kingdoms  subject  to  the  beast, 
as  they  are  explained.  Rev.  xvii.  12,  13,  17,  18. 
Now,  as  Daniel  tells  us,  it  is  upon  these  that 
the  stone  smites,  and  so  it  is  among  them  that 
Christ  will  make  his  glorious  conquests  in  the 
latter  days.  For  it  is  said,  These  kings  shall 
make  war  with  the  Lau>b,  and  the  Lamb  shall 
overcome  th«m,  not  only  their  power  and  ar- 
mies, but  he  shall  at  length  overcome  their 
hearts,  so  that  they  shall  be  brought  to  hate 
the  whore,  and  make  her  desolate,  Rev.  xvii.  14, 
16.  which  time  is  yet  to  come. 

Then  it  is  that  Christ's  kingdom  will  receive 
a  glorious  increase,  and  the  kingdoms  of  this 


THE    POLA.R    STATR. 

become  his,  as  Rev.   ii.  15.      Then  the   great 
river    Euphrates   will   he   dried    up    for    pre- 
paring the  way  of  the  kings  of  the  east,  Lev. 
xvi.  12.      Then   the  blindness  of  the  Jews  shall 
be  removed  and  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  shall 
•v-ome  in,  Rom*  xi.  1,  25,  26.     These  and  many 
other  famous  prophecies  about  the  increase  of 
Christ's  kingdom  and   glory   do  remain   to   be 
accomplished  in  the  latter  days,  at  least  in  the 
extent ;  such  as  those  that  foretel,  That   every 
thing  in  Jerusalem  shall  be  holy  :  the  people 
shall  be  all  righteous :    the  sanctuary   shall   be 
cleansed,  and  purity  be  both  in  the  worship  and 
worshippers  in  the  temple,  and  no  more  a  Ca- 
naanite  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  :    all   nations 
shall   be  gathered  to  see  his  glory  :    there  shall 
be  no  more  war  betwixt  nations  :  the  Jews  shall 
be  gathered  out  of  all  the  countries  where  they 
are  dispersed  and   brought  to  their  own  land  : 
they  shall  .bs  no  more  separate  kingdoms,  &c. 
For  which  see  Isa.  ii.  2,  3,  i.  Isa.  xxvi.  2.  Isa. 
lii.  1.  Isa.  Ix.   5,   10,   12,  13,  21.   Ezek.  xxvi. 
24,   28.    Ezek.   xxxv.   21.    to  28.   Dan.  viii.  14. 
Zech.   xv.    21.   Rev.  xi.  1.  £e.   Now,   what  a 
glorious    increase  must  it  bring  to  the  Media- 
tor's kingdom  and  glory,  when  all   these  pro- 
phecies    and    promises    shall  be  fulfilled  con- 
cerning the   overthrow   of   Babylon  and   Anti- 
christ, the  destruction  of  the  Turkish  empire, 
B 


THE    POLAR    STAB. 

the  in-bringing  of  the  Jews,  with  (he  fulness  of 
the  Gentiles  ? 

In  regard  to  the  fall  and  destruction  of  Anti- 
christ, or  the  papal  power,  is  the  great  mercy 
promised  to  the  church  in  the  latter  days,  and 
•with  which  all  the  other  hlessings  promised  are 
connected  ;  and  that  the  scripture  is  more  par- 
ticular ahout  the  time  of  its  being  fulfilled,  than 
any  other  ;  it  is  fit  to  enquire  what  is  there  said 
about  it.  And,  first,  let  us  view  the  foregoing 
signs  and  forerunners  of  Antichrist's  fall,  and  of 
Christ's  coming  to  deliver  his  people  from  his 
tyranny,  which  points  out  the  times  as  near ; 
such  as, 

First,  Previous  thereto,  there  \vill  be  a  great 
defection  among  all  the  churches  of  Christ. 
Among  God's  people  deadness  and  formality 
shall  so  increase,  that  all  the  virgins  shall  seem 
to  fall  asleep.  Errors  and  false  doctrines  shall 
greatly  abound,  the  luminaries  sha-i  be  darken- 
ed, and  the  stars  shall  withdraw  their  shining. 
Many  ministers  shall  suck  in  corrupt  principles 
about  the  glorious  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  par- 
ticularly that  of  justification ;  by  which  means 
the  earth  shall  be  turned  into  blood  and  slaugh- 
ter. Yea,  in  these  last  days,  there  shall  be  false 
teachers,  who  privily  shall  bring  in  damnable 
heresies,  even  denying  the  Lord  that  bought 
them.  There  shall  be  many  infidels,  and  pro- 


THE    POIAR    STAR.  21 

fane  scoffers,  who  shall  make  a  mock  of  serious 
godliness,  and  the  .Holy  Spirit's  operation  ;  and 
scoff  at  the  gospel-revelation,  and  the  way  of 
saving  sinners  by  Christ  and  his  righteousness 
imputed  lo  us.  Also  they  will  deride  the  pro- 
mises of  his  coming  to  destroy  Antichrist,  to  de- 
liver his  people,  and  to  judge  the  world,  saying, 
*<  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coining  !  for  all 
things  continue  as  they  were  from  the  begin- 
ning." Of  these  things  the  apostle  Peter  .speaks 
in  the  2d.  and  3d.  chapters  of  his  2d.  epistle. 
Nay,  so  general  shall  the  defection  and  infidelity^ 
of  the  world  at  that  time  he,  that  our  Lord  him- 
self tells  us,  that  when  he  cometh,  he  shall  scarce 
find  faith  upon  the  earth,  Luke  xviii.  8.  that  is, 
lie  will  find  few  that  have  the  firm  belief  of  the 
gospel- truths,  and  few  that  have  faith  concern- 
ing Christ's  coming.  So  great  have  been  the 
reelings  of  the  world,  so  long  the  delays  of 
Christ's  coming,  and  so  frequent  their  mistakes 
who  have  fixed  times  for  it,  that  there  will  re- 
main but  little  faith  in  any  about  his  glorious 
appearance  for  his  church,  when  behold  he  is 
just  at  the  door.  As  Atheists,  Deists,  and  ad- 
versaries of  the  truth  have  been  much  hardened 
in  their  infidelity,  by  the  mistakes  of  those  who 
have  been  too  particular  and  peremptory  in  tim- 
ing future  events;  so  the  godly  themselves  may 
be  sadly  shaken  and  tempted  to  despair  of 


22  THE   POLAR    STAR. 

Christ's  coining,  \vhen  he  so  long  passeth  their 
reckoning.  Therefore,  said  lie,  "  When  the 
Son  of  man  eometh,  shall  he  find  faith  on  the 
earth  ?"  But  glory  to  his  name,  "Hejs  faith  fill 
and  true,"  and  will  come  at  the  appointed  time, 
and  the  unbelief  of  man  shall  not  make  the  pro- 
mise of  God  of  none  effect. 

2.  There  shall  he  great  trouble  in  the  world, 
and  very  great  fear  and  distress  in  the  church, 
before  help  arise  to  her,  Dan.  xii.  1.      Daniel  is 
certified,  that  when  Christ  is  to  stand  up  for  the 
church,  "there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble,  such 
as  there  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation  even 
to  that  same  time,  and  at  that  time  thy  people 
shall  be  delivered.55     So  in  Mat.  xxiv.  and  Luke 
xxi.  Christ  saith,  that  before  his  coming,  there 
shall  be  strange  signs  in  the  heavens,  and  in  the 
earth,  earthquakes,  wars,  and  rumours  of  wars, 
the  rushing  of  nations  one  against  another,  and 
such  universal  distress  that  men's  hearts  will  be 
failing  them  for  fear  ;  and  even  then  shall  de- 
liverance be  at  hand. 

3.  Christ  will  appear  when  his  church's  ene- 
mies are  most  confident  and  secure,  and  particu- 
larly when  the  Romish  harlot  is  lifted  up  with 
pride  by  her  success  in  this  or  that  kingdom,  and 
begins  to  say,    «*  I  sit  as  a  queen,  and   shall  see 
no  sorrow. w     But   then  it  is  that  her  plagues 
shall  cemeia  one  day,  Eev.  xvii.  7,  8.  How  con- 


THE    POPLAR    STAR.  23 

iidfcnt  was  that  cruel  persecutor  Dioelesian,  of 
liis  success  against  the  church,  when  he  erected 
pillars  with  that  inscription,  Deleta  Superslitionc 
Christiana  %  Then  he  thought  he  had  got 
Christianity  extirpated,  and  the  church  ruined ; 
when  behold  her  glorious  deliverance  under 
Gonstantine  the  Great  was  just  at  hand. 

4.  Before  Antichrist's  fall,  one  of  the  ten 
kingdoms  which  supported  the  beast  shall  under- 
go a  marvelous  revolution,  Rev.  xi.  13.  «  The 
same  hour  there  was  a  great  earthquake,  and 
the  tenth  part  of  the  city  fell.5'  By  which  tenth 
part  is  to  be  understood  one  of  the  ten  kingdoms 
into  which  the  great  city  Romish  Babylon  was 
divided  :  this  may  take  to  be  the  kingdom  of 
France  ;  it  being  the  tenth  and  last  of  the  king- 
doms as  to  the  time  of  its  rise,  and  that  which 
gave  Rome  the  denomination  of  the  beast  with 
ten  horns  ;  and  also  it  being  the  only  one  of  the 
ten  that  was  never  conquered  since  its  rise. 
However  unlikely  this  and  other  prophesied 
events  may  appear  at  the  time,  yet  the  Almighty 
hand  of  the  only  wise  God  can  soon  bring  them 
about  when  least  expected.  Though  the  church 
should  be  wrapt  about  with  the  blackest  clouds 
and  thickest  darkness,  for  a  time,  that  will  be 
no  stop  to  God's  great  designs.  As  a  little  be- 
fore the  break  of  day  is  the  darkest  time  of  all 
the  night ;  so  usually  it  is  a  dark  hour  before 


£&  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

the  day  break  of  the  church's  deliverance.  Lef: 
its  not  then  be  shaken  in  our  minds,  whatever 
storm  blows,  but  firmly  believe  the  word  of  a 
true  and  faifjiful  God,  That  all  his  promises  to 
his  church  shall  be  exactly  accomplished  :  That 
lie  will  rise  in  due  time  and  scatter  all  his  enemies  | 
and  that  the  set  time  to  favour  Zion  will  certain- 
ly come.  May  we  then  behelped  to  look  to  heav- 
en, and  cry  for  a  steady,  fixed,  and  persevering 
faith,  that  we  may  never  be  shaken,  nor  carried 
away  by  the  prevailing  torrent  of  infidelity,  but 
may  still  be  established  upon  the  firm  rock  of. 
5  for  Christ's  sake  !  Amen, 


THE   POLAR   STAK. 


Of  the  Increase  of  Christ's  Kingdom* 
SERMON  II. 

On  JOHN  iii.  30.     He  must  increase  -- 

IN  the  preceding  discourse,  I  was  speaking  of 
the  times  and  seasons  of  the  increase  of  Christ's 
kingdom  and  glory  ;  and  seeing  this  increase  in 
the  latter  days  is  very  much  connected  with 
Antichrist's  fall,  I  was  enquiring  a  little  into  the 
time  of  that  fall,  and  mentioning  some  forerun- 
ners of  it.  Rut  to  get  a  more  certain  view  of  it9 
it  is  fit  to  enquire  into  the  scripture  account  of 
the  time  and  length  of  Antichrist's  reign;  which, 
according  to  Rev.  xi.  2,  3.  and  xii.  6,  14.  and  xiiL 
5.  doth  amount  to  1260  years,  as  is  generally 
agreed  to.  Now  if  we  could  hit  upon  the  time 
when  these  years  began,  we  should  certainly 
know  when  his  reign  would  end.  But  God,  for 
our  trial  and  exercise,  hath  left  us  much  in  the 
dark  when  to  begin  them.  Thus  also  dealt  God 
with  his  people  in  ancient  times  ;  for  though  he 
told  them  of  their  bondage  in  Egypt  would  be 
400  years,  their  captivity  in  Babylon  would  be 
70  years  ;  and  from  the  commandment  to  rebuild 
the  temple  to  the  Messiah's  death,  there  would 
be  70  weeks  of  years,  or  &90  years  :  yet  still  the 


26  THE   POLAR 

precise  time  when  to  begin  these  computations 
was  much  questioned  among  them.  So  that 
they  never  were  perfectly  certain  about  the  ex- 
act times  of  the  church's  deliverance,  until  the 
glorious  events  happened  ;  and  then  every  one 
saw  clearly  when  they  should  have  dated  the  be- 
ginning of  these  predicted  years.  Now  the 
same  is  the  case  with  respect  to  Antichrist's 
reign  and  downfall.  Though  now  we  be  not 
certain  when  to  begin  the  1290  years,  which  is 
the  duration  of  Antichrist's  reign ;  yet,  after  the 
event  of  his  fall,  the  time  of  its  commencement 
will  be  so  plain,  that  after  ages  will  be  apt  to 
wonder  that  we  fell  into  such  mistakes  about  it. 
Some  in  their  calculations  have  begun  Anti- 
christ's reign  too  early  :  others  again,  perhaps, 
begin  it  too  late.  Some  of  which  I  shall  men-* 
lion,  with  the  grounds  of  their  opinion. 

I.  Because  Antichrist  is  called  the  beast  with 
ten  horfis,  Kev.  xiii*  1.  and  the  ten  horns  or 
kings  receive  their  power  one  hour  with  the 
beast,  and  give  their  power  and  kingdom  ta  the 
beast,  Rev,  xvii.  12,13,17.  Many  therefore, 
did  begin  Antichrist's  reign,  as  soon  as  the  Ro- 
man empire  was  broken,  and  divided  into  ten 
different  kingdoms ;  to  wit,  when  the  tenth  or 
last  horn  appeared,  which  was  the  kingdom  of 
the  Franks,  now  called  the  French,  under  Chil- 
dericus  their  king,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  456  | 


THE  POLAR   STAB.  27 

to  which,  if  we  add  1260  years,  the  lime  of 
Antichrist's  reign,  the  end  of  it  was  to  have 
been  in  the  year  1716,  and  accordingly  many 
did  expect  it  that  year  :  But  the  event  hath 
shewed  that  they  began  Antichrist's  reign  too 
soon.  And  indeed  the  scripture  doth  not  say 
that  his  reign  (though  contemporary  with  the 
tea  horns)  should  begin  as  soon  as  the  last  of 
them  appeared ;  and  in  the  year  456,  Anti- 
christ was  scarce  discernible  in  the  church. 
But  yet,  in  the  year  1716,  Antichrist  got  a  se- 
vere blow,  when  the  Lord  broke  his  interest  in 
Britain,  by  defeating  the  rebellion  there  in  his 
favour,  and  securing  the  Protestant  succession 
to  the  crown  in  the  house  of  Hanover. 

II.  Others  did  begin  Antichrist's  reign  20 
years  after,  viz.  in  the  year  476  ;  because  till 
then  some  shadow  of  the  Roman  empire  remain- 
ed. For  it  was  not  entirely  dissolved,  nor  did 
the  ten  horns  appear  formally  in  its  room,  till 
the  deposition  of  Augustulus,  who  was  the  last 
of  the  Roman  emperors  that  reigned  over  both 
east  and  west.  Now  he  was  deposed  in  the  year 
476,  after  which  time  the  very  name  of  the  Ro- 
man empire  in  the  west  became  extinct.  Those 
of  this  way  of  thinking  did  also  strengthen  their 
opinion  from  that  text  in  Thess.  ii.  7,  8.  «  He 
who  now  letteth,  will  let,  until  he  be  taken  out 
of  the  way.  And  then  shall  that  wicked  one  be 


28  THE    POLAR    STAR. 

revealed  :"  that  is,  Antichrist,  who  then  was 
Working  under  ground,  would  formally  appear 
until  the  removal  of  the  Roman  empire,  whose 
power  in  the  west  did  greatly  hinder  the  papal 
tyranny  and  grandeur.  Now,  according  to  this 
opinion.  Antichrist's  reign  should  have  ended  in 
the  year  1736.  but  the  event  also  hath  discover- 
ed they  began  it  too  soon.  For  though  the 
bishops  of  Rome,  upon  the  fall  of  the  empire, 
made  great  progress  in  their  projected  usurpa- 
tion, yet  Antichrist  was  not  formally  revealed  so 
soon  as  476.  Neither  did  the  scripture  say  that 
he  would  he  immediately  revealed,  and  begin  his 
reign  upon  the  removing  of  the  Roman  empire. 
But  though  the  Lord  did  not  overturn  Antichrist 
ia  the  year  1736,  as  some  expected,  yet  I  hope 
he  hath  taken  a  remarkable  step  towards  it, 
and  for  the  increase  of  his  own  kingdom  in  or 
about  that  year,  by  raising  up  eminent  instru- 
ments for  spreading  his  glorious  gospel  through 
the  world.,  such  as  the  Moravian  brethren,  and 
Oxford  methodists;  and  particularly  by  sending 
forth  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whitfield,  that  very  year  to 
preach  the  everlasting  gospel  with  wonderful 
success.  And  now,  both  he  and  others  whom 
God  hath  excited,  have,  since  that  time,  made  a 
noble  progress  in  this  work,  both  in  Europe  and 
America,  by  preaching  in  the  demonstration  of 
the  Spirit,  and  with  power,  the  doctrine  of  free 


THE   rOLiH   STA1I.  X$ 

grace,  of  original  sin,  of  regeneration  by  the 
holy  Spirit,  and  of  justification  by  Christ's 
righteousness  alone  ;  which  doctrines  had 
been  sadly  buried  before.  And  I  verily  believe, 
that  it  is  by  the  effusion  of  the  Spirit  with  the 
gospel,  and  the  bright  convincing  appearances  of 
Christ,  and  free  grace  in  the  glory  of  gospel- 
light,  that  Antichrist  will  be  consumed  and  de- 
stroyed ;  and  Christ's  kingdom  increased ;  and 
enlarged. 

III.  Some  there  are   who   are  very  late  in 
beginning    Antichrist's   reign,    not  before  the 
bishops   of  Rome  turned  grossly  idolatrous,  and 
set  up  for   the  worship   of  images,  and   for  ex- 
communicating and  deposing  the   emperors  of 
Constantinople,  their  civil  rulers,   because  they 
opposed  them  in  their  idolatry.     This  was  first 
attempted  by   Pope  Constantine  against  the  em- 
peror Philippicus,  in  the  year  713;  and  after- 
wards practised  with  greater  boldness  and   suc- 
cess by  Pope  Gregory   II.  against  the  emperor 
Leo,  in  the  year  726.     According  to  I  his  opinion 
Antichrist's  reign  will  not  end  before  the  year 
1973. 

IV.  But  the  most  probable  time  for  commenc- 
ing Antichrist's  reign  seems  to  be  when  Boniface 
III.  got   himself  declared  universal  bishop  and 
head  of  thf  church,  and   assumed    the   title   of 
Pope,  which  was  in  the  year  606.     And,  in  this 


30  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

usurped  supremacy,  lie  was  then  owned  and  sub- 
mitted to  by  the  ten  horns  or  kings,  who  gave 
their  power  to  him.  Then  it  was  the  Pope  be- 
came Christ's  declared  opposite,  by  usurping  his 
peculiar  offices  and  titles,  and  so  appeared  for- 
mally to  be  Antichrist.  Now,  if  we  add  to  606, 
the  time  of  Antichrist's  reign,  1260  years,  his 
dominion  will  not  end  till  the  year  1866  which  is 
124  years  hence.  Though  none  now  living  will 
see  this,  yet  we  may  Comfort  ourselves,  as  once 
a  godly  man  did  :  «  I  have  had  a  longing  desire," 
said  he,  «  to  see  or  hear  of  the  fall  of  Anti- 
christ :  but  I  check  myelf,  I  shall  go  to  heaven, 
and  there  the  news  of  it  shall  quickly  arrive,  for 
both  angels  and  saints  will  rejoice  at  it,"  Rev. 
xviii.  20.  Why,  that  will  be  the  happy  time  of 
the  increase  of  Christ's  kingdom  and  glory. 
May  God  hasten  it  for  Christ's  sake. 

The  third  Head.    I  propose  next  to  give  some 
reasons  why  Christ  must  increase  as  above : 

1.  Because  of  the  decree  and  pro  raise  of  God, 
which  cannot  fail.     He   hath  promised  this  not 
only  to  the  church,  Jer.  xxiii.  5.  but   also  to 
Christ  himself,  Psalm   ii.  8.  and  ex.  1,  2.     And 
surely  «  he  will  not  alter  the  thing  that  is  gone 
out  of  his  lips,  he  will  not  lie  unto  David,  Psalm 
Ixxxix.  3-fc,  35. 

2.  Because  it  is  for  the  sake  of  the  kingdom 
of  Christ,  and  its  increase,  that  God  hath  made 


THE   POLAJR    STAR.  51 

the  world,  and  hath  given  the  administration  of 
the  kingdom  of  providence  to  Christ  himself  in 
order  to  secure  the  accomplishment  of  all  the 
glorious  promises  made  to  him,  the  reins  of  go- 
vernment are  put  in  his  own  hand,  Mat*  xxviii. 
18.  Eph.  i.  22.  And,  to  he  sure,  the  great  Me- 
diator will  see  to  his  own  interest. 

3.  Because  Christ  is  the  darling  of  heaven, 
dearly  heioved  of  G  >d  for  undertaking  the  re- 
demption of  a  lost  world,  a  work  whereby  God 
is  highly  glorified*  In  this  transaction  he 
cheerfully  complied  with  the  divine  will,  be- 
came obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the 
cross,  and  therefore  his  name  must  be  exalted 
above  every  name,  and  every  knee  must  bow 
before  him,  Phil.  ii.  8,  9,  10. 

APPLICATION. 

I.  Use  may  be  of  information  : 

1.  We  here  see  what  encouragement  we  have 
to  fM-tiy  as  we  are  taught,    Thy  kingdom  come, 
and  (hilt  it  may  be  increased  and  enlarged:  see- 
ing we  pray  for  what  God  hath  decreed,  promis- 
ed   and  foretold,  and   must  certainly   come  to 
pass. 

2.  It  must  then  be  great  folly  to  oppose  the 
flourishing  of  Christ's  kingdom  ;  they  wbo  do 
it  have  a  strong  party  to  fight  against,  even   the 
omnipotent  G<>d,  who  hath  said  of  Christ  and  his 
kingdom,  lie  must  increase. 

€ 


32  THE    POLAR   STAR. 

II.  Use  may  be  of  reproof  and  warning  to  all 
\vbo  would  binder  the  increase  of  Christ's  king- 
dom and  glory  in  the  world  ;  such  as, 

1.  Those  who  persecute  and  oppress  his  peo- 
ple. 

2.  Those  who  promote  the  violent  settlement 
of  ministers  contrary  to  the  will  of  congrega- 
tions, and  thereby  put  a  stop  to  the  conversion 
and  edification  of  souls. 

3.  Those   who  promote  infidelity,  error,  or 
any  doctrine  in  the  church,  contrary  to  the  sim- 
plicity and  purity  of  the  gospel,  and  the  scripture 
scheme   of  salvation   by  Christ  and  his  surety 
righteousness,  whereby  free  grace  is  exalted  arid 
self  debased. 

4.  Those  who  fefuse  to  subject  themselves  to 
the  laws  of  his  kingdom,  and   will  rather  obey 
their   own  passions   and   lusts,   saying  in  their 
hearts,   «  We   will  not  have  this  man  to  reign 
over  us  ;"    if  Christ  be  a  king  let  him  be  a  king 
without   a  kingdom,   subjects,   or  laws;  if  we 
could,  he  should  have  none.     O  sinners,  take 
heed  what  you  are  doing  :  you  directly  oppose 
the  will  of  that  God,  who  saith,  He  must  in- 
crease. 

III.  Use  of  lamentation.      We  may  hear  take 
occasion  to  bewail  the  state  of  Christ's  kingdom 
in  clivers  places,  in  which  it  once  flourished  and 
increased,    but  now,  alas  !    decreaseth  $    as  in 


THE  POLAR   STAR.  33 

France,  Germany,  Poland,  Bohemia,  Hungary, 
Piedmont,  and  other  foreign  parts,  and  likewise 
in  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  particularly  in  em* 
mother  church  of  Scotland !  Oh  !  what  a  dread- 
ful flood  of  infidelity,  atheism,  irreligion,  dam- 
nable heresies,  looseness  of  principle  and  of  prac- 
tice, contempt  of  God  and  religion,  scofSngs  at 
the  truths  of  God  and   serious  godliness,  hath 
broke  out  in  this  age,  and  swelled  to  a  greater 
height  than   at  any  time  since  our   blessed  re- 
formation.    Our  holy  Christian  religion,  in  its 
firm  foundations  and  infallible  proofs,  hath  been 
openly  attacked  and  ridiculed  by  professed  infi- 
dels and  pretenders  to  reason  amongst  us,  and 
that  notwithstanding  the  strong  obligations  they 
lie    under    by  their  baptism   and    education  to 
adhere  to  it.     And  many  pretended  friends  have 
been  undermining  and  destroying  it,  by  promot- 
ing opinions   and  practices  inconsistent  with  its 
purity  and  interest.    Yea,  all  ranks  of  us,  whether 
magistrates,  ministers,  nobility,  gentry,  citizens 
and   commons,  are  sadly  chargeable   with  the 
prevailing  detections  and  declensions  of  the  age* 
Alas,  we  have  left  our  first  love,  and  have  wo- 
fully   degenerated   from   our    ancestors     piety, 
zeal,  and   solemn   engagements   to   the  Lord ! 
How  lamentable  is  our  neglect  of  family  wor- 
ship, secret  prayer,   sabbath-sanctification,  ami 
gospel  holiness  !     As  also  our  losing  our  former 


Si  THE    POLAR   STAB. 

liveliness  and  spirituality  in  God's  worship  and 
service,  and  letting  our  devotion  dwindle  away 
into  a  dead  formality,  and  mere  bodily  service  ! 
And,  finally,  how  strong  is  the  propensity  of  the 
present  generation  to  vanity,  lightness,  plays, 
comedies,  romances,  idle  diversions,  contempt 
of  ordinances,  lying,  cheating,  pergury,  and  all 
sorts  of  immoral  practices. 

Upon  account  whereof  God  is  provoked  to 
forsake  his  ordinances,  and  smite  our  church 
with  sore  judgments,  such  as  a  spirit  of  division, 
a  miscarrying  womb,  and  dry  breasts,  impeniten- 
cy  and  hardness  of  Tieart,  suspending  the  Spirit's 
influences,  so  as  hearts  are  not  melted  by  the 
\vord.  The  angel  descends  not  to  trouble  the 
waters,  and  the  diseased  step  not  in  to  be  healed 
as  in  former  days.  Our  hearis  do  not  burn 
while  Christ  is  talking  with  us  ;  the  times  of 
refreshing  come  not  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord.  And,  alas  !  we  who  are  in  the  ministry 
\vant  not  reason  to  fear  that  we  have  a  hand  in 
bringing  oj  the  judgments,  by  our  undertaking 
the  ministry  for  carnal  ends,  and  without  ex- 
perimental knowledge  of  the  Spirit's  work  in 
regeneration ;  helping  in  lax  men  to  the  minis- 
try, and  discouraging  the  more  serious  ;  little 
reading  and  studying  the  scriptures  ;  want  of 
zeal  and  concern  for  the  conversion  and  edifica- 
tion of  souls ;  Seeking  ourselves  in  our  public 


THE   POLAR    STAR.  3# 

appearances,  more  than  the  glory  of  our  blessed 
Master,  not  looking  to  him  for  furniture,  and 
depending  on  his  presence  and  Spirit  for  success : 
Not  labouring  more  earnestly,  and  preaching 
more  rousingly  for  awakening  and  convincing  of 
souls :  laying  stumbling-blocks  before  hearers^ 
by  sinful  strifes,  untender  walking,  and  wrong 
steps,  whereby  they  are  tempted  to  abhor  the 
offerings  of  the  Lord  ;  not  acting  as  faithful 
stewards,  by  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth, 
and  speaking  to  the  different  cases  of  the  con- 
verted and  unconverted,  saints  and  sinners  ;  and 
not  making  it  the  great  end  of  our  sermons  to 
convince  lost  sinners  of  their  misery,  to  exalt  a 
crucified  Christ  as  their  only  remedy,  and  to  lead 
poor  souls  to  him.  O  that  all  ranks  were 
brought  to  acknowledge  their  guilt,  and  to  la- 
ment tlie  hand  they  have  had  in  stopping  the  in- 
crease of  Christ's  kingdom  ! 

IV.  Use  may  he  of  consolation  to  all  the 
friends  of  Christ.  Though  you  have  cause  of 
fear  and  trembling,  because  of  the  melancholy 
view  you  have  of  the  church's  case  at  present, 
her  groans  and  grievances,  defections,  and  baek- 
slidings,  and  the  power  and  success  of  enemies; 
yet  rejoice  in  the  tidings  my  text  brings,  "  Christ 
must  increase."  The  church  shall  arise  and 
sliine,  her  light  shall  come,  and  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  shall  rise  upon  her.  It  shall  not  be  in  the 


36  THE   POLAR  STAK. 

power  ef  all  her  enemies.,  though  hell  and  Rome 
be  joined  with  them,  to  hinder  this  increase* 
Antichrist  must  fall  :  He  hath  been  in  a  dead- 
]y  consumption  these  200  years,  and  will  expire 
at  length.  Whatever  be  the  opposition,  Christ 
must  overcome,  triumph,  and  increase  at  last. 
His  church  will  certainly  outlive  all  her  enemies. 
And  although  sometimes  she  may  decrease  in 
some  places,  yet  we  should  mind  that  Christ's 
kingdom  is  like  the  sea,  what  it  loseth  in  one 
place  it  gaineth  in  another.  If  it  lose  in  Europe* 
and  gain  in  America,  Christ  loseth  nothing. 
And  though  his  church  in  our  land  be  brought 
low,  yet  her  Head  and  King  lives,  and  many  of 
his  worthies  have  lived  and  died  in  the  faith  of 
it,  that  he  would  not  leave  her,  but  return  and 
revive  his  work  in  her,  with  a  powerful  arm, 
and  spreading  glory. 

V.  Use  of  exhortation.  And  here  I  exhort 
and  obtest  all  ranks,  high  and  low,  to  do  what 
they  can  in  their  stations,  by  their  prayers  and 
endeavours,  for  the  coming  and  increase  of 
Christ's  kingdom,  as  Christ  directs,  Mat.  vi.  10. 
O  how  concerned  was  David  this  way  I  Psalms 
xxv.  22.  and  li.  18.  And  so  were  Asaph,  Isaiah, 
Daniel,  Nehemiah,  Paul,  &c.  Psalm  Ixx.  14. 
Isa.  Ixii.  1.  Dan.  ix.  16,  &c.  Neh.  ii.  3.  Bom.  x. 
1. Consider  also  the  woes  and  judgments  de- 
nounced against  those  who  are  unconcerned  for 


THE   POLAR   9TAX2.  37 

the  interest  of  Christ's  kingdom,  Amos  vi.  1,  6* 
Esther  iv.  14.  Likewise  take  a  view  of  the 
blessings  which  would  attend  the  increase  of  it. 
The  redeemer's  glory  would  be  magnified,  the 
church  would  become  a  fruitful  mother  of  many 
children,  and  many  sons  and  daughters  would  be 
born  of  God.  Then  light  would  spread,  know- 
ledge be  increased,  ignorance  vanish,  error  be 
abhorred,  Satan  restrained,  vice  forsaken,  virtue 
esteemed,  love  and  peace  cultivated*  Then  the 
lives  of  Christiansvwould  shine,  sabbaths  would 
be  days  of  heaven,  sermons  and  sacraments  would 
be  longed  for,  the  friends  of  Christ  valued  as 
the  excellent  ones  of  the  earth,  and  all  wisdom's 
ways  would  be  pleasant  and  delightful.  And 
what  happy  times  would  these  be  ? 

Quest.  What  are  those  means  and  endeavours 
we  should  use  for  the  increase  of  Christ's  king- 
dom and  glory  in  the  world,  according  to  our 
several  stations  and  capacities  ? 

JLns.  ±.  Let  magistrates  contribute  to  this 
noble  end,  both  by  their  authority  and  example, 
discountenancing  the  immoral  and  vicious,  and 
putting  respect  upon  the  virtuous  and  godly. 
Let  them  with  zeal  and  impartiality  execute 
our  good  laws  for  suppressing  open  vice,  such 
as  drunkenness,  itncleanness,  profaning  of  the 
Lord's  name,  and  of  the  Lord's  day,  &c.  Let 
them  in  their  own  lives  be  patterns  to  others  in 


38  THE   POLAR   STAtt. 

justice,  sobriety,  family  religion,  and  attending 
upon  public  ordinances  ;  and  no  doubt  their  good 
examples  would  have  great  influence  upon  those 
around  them. 

2.  Let  ministers  especially  lay  out  themselves 
for  this  increase,   by  making  it  the  great  scope 
and  end  of  their  sermons  to  awaken  secure  sin- 
ners, and  lead  them  to  Christ  ;  by  diligent  cate- 
chizing of  them,  and  dealing  particularly  with 
young  persons  in  private  about  their  souls,  and 
taking  great  pains  with  them  at  their  first  ad- 
mission to  the  Lord's  table.     Let  them  be  care- 
ful to  keep  back  the  ignorant  and  ungodly  from 
that  holy  ordinance  ;  and  depend  on  the  minis- 
tration  of  the  spirit  for  all  the  success  of  their 
endeavours.     Let  them  beware  of  licensing  or 
ordaining  any   to  sacred  functions,  who  are  not 
of  good  report  for  true  piety  and    soundness  $ 
and    of  imposing   pastors   upon    congregations 
without  their  consent  or  good  liking.     Let  them 
preach  to   their  flocks  by  their  good  lives,  as 
well  as  their  lips ;  and  in  all  things  behave  as 
true  friends  to  the  Bridegroom,  desiring  (like 
John  Baptist)  that  their  blessed  Master  may  in- 
crease, though  they  should  decrease ;  that  his 
name  may  be  great,  though  theirs   should  sink 
to  nothing. 

3.  Let  elders  in  their  sphere  contribute  all 
they  can  to  the  flourishing  of  Christ's  kingdom. 


THE    POLAR    STAR.  39 

by  their  fervent  prayers  for  it,  and  studying  to 
be  exemplary  in  family  religion,  sobriety  and 
holiness  of  life:  by  reproving  and  admonishing 
of  those  who  walk  disorderly,  informing  minis- 
ters about  them,  and  faithfully  assisting  them 
in  the  exercise  of  discipline,  and  in  ruling  and 
governing  of  the  church. 

4.  Let  teachers  of  youth  assist  in  this  work, 
by  labouring  to  instil  the  knowledge  of  God,  and 
the  way  of  salvation  through  Christ,  very  early 
into  their  scholars  minds  ;    and  to  persuade  men 
of  the  necessity  and  advantage  of  prayer,  anew 
heart,   godliness,  meekness,   chastity,   sobriety, 
and  justice.     And  likewise   to  train  them  up  in 
the  abhorrence  of  vice  in  all  its   kinds,  and  of 
every  thing  that  may   prove  an  inlet  or  encour- 
agement to  it. 

5.  Let   parents   and   heads    of  families,   do 
what  they  can  to  se,t  up  and  increase   Christ's 
kingdom     in     their     families,   by    maintaining 
the    worship   of  God  in  them  ;  sanctifying  the 
sabbath     in    all    their    dwellings ;    catechizing 
and  instructing  children  and  servants,  and  re- 
quiring an  account  of  the  sermons   they  hear  ; 
reproving  and  curbing  sin  wherever  it  appears  ; 
and  earnestly  recommending  Christ  and  the  new 
birth,   prayer,  reading  of  the  Bible,   and   holy 
living,  to  all  within  their  gates;  and   especially 
to  children,  when   their  hearts  are  young  and 
tender :  for  these  are  the  hope  and  seed  of  the 


40  THE   POLAR   STAIL 

next  generation.  Let  us  follow  the  example  of 
the  Jews  in  Neheiniah's  time,  who  repaired  the 
walls  of  Jerusalem,  every  one  against  their  own 
houses,  Neh.  iii.  10,  &c.  If  every  one  would 
sweep  before  their  own  door,  it  would  soon  make 
a  clean  street.  And  if  all,  whether  in  public  or 
private  stations,  would  diligently  apply  them- 
selves to  that  part  of  reformation- work  that  lies 
nearest  to  them,  and  within  their  reach,  there 
would  soon  be  a  happy  change  among  us. 

9.  Let  those  whom  God  hath  blessed  with 
worldly  substance,  employ  part  of  it  for  the  in- 
crease and  enlargement  of  Christ's  kingdom,  by 
supporting  charity  schools,  and  encouraging 
ministers,  preachers  and  catechists,  to  travel  in 
dark  places  of  the  world,  both  at  home  and  a- 
broad,  for  propagating  Christian  knowledge,  and 
bringing  precious  souls  to  Jesus  Christ :  surely, 
there  is  no  better  use  that  money  can  be  put  to ; 
many  of  our  fellow  Christians  have  done  worthily 
this  way  before  us,  and  the  good  effects  thereof 
are  notorious;  which  should  excite  others  to  the 
like  acts  of  charity  and  beneficence,  which  have 
such  an  evident  tendency  to  save  perishing  souls, 
and  increase  our  dear  Redeemer's  kingdom  and 
glory. 

Object.  But  (say  some)  we  are  poor  and  in  low 
stations,  what  can  we  do  for  Christ's  kingdom? 

Jlns.  There  are  several  things  incumbent  on 
you  for  this  noble  end,  be  what  you  will. 


THE    P6IAK   STAR.  41 

1.  Let  every  man,  whatever  his  station  he, 
receive  the  gospel  revelation  with  a  firm  unshak- 
en faith  as  the  very  truth  of  God,  and  the  way  of 
bringing  men  to  eternal  life,  which  God  himself 
hath  devised.     Ahhor  the  impious  cavils  of  infi- 
dels against  it,  and  receive  gospel  truths  with 
warm  love  and  affection.     Love  and  hless  God, 
who,  in  his  infinite  love  and  wisdom,   contrived 
this  scheme  of  salvation,  and  Jesus  Christ  that 
executed    it,   hy    shedding   his    blood   on   the 
cross.     Let  each  one  by  faith,  put  his  finger  in 
the  print  of  the  nails,  and  cry  with  Thomas, 
"  He  is  my  Lord,  and  my  God." 

2.  Let  every  man  study  to  recommend  this  ex- 
cellent religion  to  the  world,  by  conforming  its 
practice  to  its  rules,  and  adorning  his  life  with 
shining  holiness  and  virtue  ;  and  by  guarding  a- 
gainst  all  injustice    and  dishonesty,   pride,  pas- 
sion, revenge,  evil  speaking,  and  every  thing  that 
may  stumble  and  beget  prejudices  in  men  against 
Christianity,  who  are  too  apt  to  impute  the  faults 
of  its  professors  to  the  religion  itself.     If  every 
professed   Christian   would    contribute,   by  per- 
sonal reformation,  to  mend  one,  then  we  should 
all    be   mended,    and    the  increase    of   Christ's 
kingdom  would  be  glorious. 

3.  Let  every  one  be  searching  diligently  into 
the  thxie  prefixed  for  the  church's  being  in  sack- 
clot^  \    viz,   the  1260  years.     And  when  (like 


42  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

Daniel)  \ve  understand  by  books,  that  the  time 
of  finishing  them  is  near,  let  us  with  him,  Dan. 
ix.  2,  3.  set  our  faces  unto  the  Lord  God,  to 
seek  by  prayer  and  supplications,  with  fasting, 
that  he  may  remove  all  hindrances,  and  hasten 
the  time  of  the  church's  liberty  and  increase. 
If  you  can  do  no  more  for  it,  pour  out  earnest 
prayers  to  God  for  fulfilling  his  promises  of  the 
downfall  of  Antichrist  ;tnd  Mahomet,  the  inbring- 
ing  of  the  Jews,  with  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles: 
And  that  he  would  pour  out  a  spirit  of  mourning 
and  repentance  upon  the  church  of  Scotland,  and 
other  reformed  churches,  for  their  decays  and 
hai-kslidings,  put  a  stop  lo  infidelity  and  error, 
maintain  purity  of  doctrine  and  worship,  remove 
the  causes  of  division  and  contention,  heal 
breaches,  and  restore  peace:  \nd  that  God  may 
grant  a  spirit  of  reformation,  and  of  zeal  for 
Christ's  kingdom  to  all  men  of  p^wer  and  influ- 
ence, that  they  may  exert  themselves  for  the  en- 
largement of  Christ's  dominions,  and  the  dimi- 
nishing of  Satan's  :  and  that  he  would  send  a 
larg  -  effusion  of  his  Holv  Spirit  to  qualify  in- 
struments for  spreading  his  gospel  through  the 
world, 

We  are  apt  to  be  tliscouraged,  when  w^  see 
not  likely  instruments  to  carry  on  the  Lord's 
work,  and  bring  about  the  glorious  things  he 
hath  promised  $  and  to  cry,  «  By  whom  shall 


TUB    TOLAR    STAR.  *3 

Jacob  arise?"  Not  minding  that  God  can  raise 
up  children  from  stones,  and  instruments  to  serve 
him  where  they  were  not  expected.  Though  we 
be  oft  at  our  wit's  end,  we  should  never  be  at 
our  faith's  end.  God  can  never  be  at  a  loss  to 
carry  on  his  work,  while  he  hath  enough  of  clay 
and  spirit  to  form  instruments  for  his  purpose, 
when  the  arm  of  the  Lord  doth  once  awake  for 
his  church,  no  impediment  can  step  him  ;  he 
makes  out  that  pleasant  word  in  Psalm  Ixviii. 
11.  «  The  Lord  gave  the  word,  great  was  the 
company  of  those  that  published  it."  The  pour- 
ing out  of  God's  spirit  from  on  high,  doth  an- 
swer all  objections,  overcome  difficulties,  provide 
supplies,  and  afford  remedies  in  the  most  des- 
perate cases. 

O  how  desperate-like  was  Luther's  attempt  in 
the  year  1 517,  when  he  a  poor  monk,  set  himself 
against  the  torrent  of  idolatry  and  corruption 
that  prevailed  under  Antichrist  at  that  time  ! 
It  seemed  as  ridiculous,  as  if  a  man  had  set  his 
shoulder  to  a  great  mountain  on  purpose  to  re- 
move it.  And  so  it  was  in  the  reckoning  of  the 
wisest  in  that  age  ;  and  hence,  when  Luther 
opened  his  designs  to  a  great  doctor,  who  disap- 
proved of  the  Romish  corruption  as  well  as  he, 
lie  bade  Luther  retire  to  his  cell,  and  pray 
Lord  have  mercy  anus  ;  as  if  there  was  no  reme- 
dy. Yet  how  wonderfully  did  the  purity  of 


*i  THE    POLAIl    STAR. 

doctrine  and  worship  break  forth  and  prevail  to 
amazement,  among  sundry  nations,  so  as  to 
shake  the  foundation  of  Antichrist's  throne,  and 
give  him  a  deadly  wound,  under  \vhich  he  hath 
been  languishing  ever  since  !  There  had  been 
several  attempts  for  reformation  made  by  others 
long  before  Luther,  as  by  Wiekliffe,  Huss,  and 
Jerome  of  Prague  ;  but  all  were  ineffectual,  be- 
cause God's  time  of  reformation  was  not  then 
come.  But  we  see  when  once  that  timecometh  no 
man  is  able  to  hinder  it,  more  than  stop  the  sun 
from  breaking  out  under  a  cloud.  It  becomes, 
then,  all  the  Lord's  servants  and  people,  to  keep 
in  the  way  of  duty,  and  wait  patiently  till  his  set 
time  to  favour  Zion  doth  come. 

How  patiently  did  Joshua  and  the  priests  wait 
for  the  downfall  of  Jericho  !  Amidst  the  insults 
of  enemies,  they  continued  in  their  dutiful  obedi- 
ence to  God,  encompassing  the  city  every  day,  and 
blowing  with  trumpets  of  rams  horns,  carrying 
the  ark  still  along  with  them.  Thus  they  did 
six  days,  once  every  day  ;  and  seven  times  upon 
the  seventh  day.  All  the  six  days  the  walls 
stood  firm,  not  a  stone  moved,  nor  a  pinning 
in  it  loosed ;  nor  was  there  any  alteration  for 
the  most  part  of  the  seventh  day,  until  the  eve- 
ning, when  God's  set  time  was  come;  and  then 
without  difficulty,  all  came  tumbling  down  at 
«o,nce.  In  like  manner  let  us  persevere  with  pa- 


THE    POLAR    STAR.  45 

tience  in  the  way  of  duty,  looking  to  God,  and 
Wowing  with  the  gospel  trumpet,  which  by  many 
is  dospised  as  the  sound  of  a  ram's  horn :  but  if 
we  hold  on,  carrying  Christ  (the  blest  antitype 
of  the  ark)  along  with  us,  we  shall  come  off 
with  triumph  at  last.  One  thing  is  sure.  Anti- 
christ must  decrease9  and  Christ  must  increase. 
Jericho  must  fall,  and  Zion  must  be  built  up. 
And  however  dark  and  cloudy  the  present  time 
be,  we  are  well  assured  from  Psalm  cii.  16* 
"  When  the  Lord  shall  build  up  Zion,  he  shall 
appear  in  his  glory."  The  Lord  in' mercy  hasten 
that  time  in  Scotland,  and  all  parts  of  the  earth, 
for  Christ's  sake  Amen.  Even  so  come  Lord 
Jesus,  Amen  and  Amen. 


THE    rOIAK  STAR. 


SERMON  III 

On  Female  Virtue,  with  Domestic  and  Elegant 
Accomplishments. 

1.  TIM.  ii.  8,  9. 

Iwilf— — that  women  adorn  themselves  with  So- 
briety. 

PKOV.  xxxi  10,  31. 

Who  can  find  a  virtuous  Woman  $  For  h$r 
price  is  jar  above  rubies— Give  her  of  the 
fruit  of  her  hands,  and  let  her  works  praise 
her  in  the  gates. 

TO  divert  fancy,  to  gratify  desire,  and  in  gen- 
eral to  he  a  sort  of  better  servants,  -are  all  the 
purposes  for  which  some  suppose  your  sex  de- 
signed. A  most  illiberal  supposition !  The 
least  degree  of  refinement  or  candour  will  dis- 
pose us  to  regard  them  in  a  far  higher  point  of 
light.  They  were  manifestly  intended  to  be  the 
mothers  and  formers  of  a  rational  and  immortal 
offspring ;  to  be  a  kind  of  softer  companions, 
who,  by  nameless  delightful  sympathies  and  en- 
dearments, might  improve  our  pleasures  and 
soothe  our  pains  :  to  lighten  the  load  of  domestic 
cares,  and  by  that  means  leave  us  more  at  leisure 


THE   FOiAR   STAB,  47 

for  rougher  labours,  or  severer  studies;  and 
finally,  to  spread  a  certain  grace  and  embellish- 
ment over  human  life.  To  wish  to  degrade  them 
from  so  honourable  a  station,  indicates  a  mixture 
of  ignorance,  grossness,  and  barbarity.  But  in- 
deed the  men  who  think  in  this  manner,  do 
themselves  irreparable  wrong,  by  putting  it  out 
of  their  power,  even  to  enjoy  the  tcnderest  and 
most  delicious  feelings  of  the  heart*  He  that 
has  a  true  taste  of  happiness  will  choose  for  his 
own  sake,  to  cherish  the  kindest  opinion  of  the 
female  destination. 

Yet  what  shall  we  say  ?  Are  there  not  many 
women  who  seem  to  have  entirely  forgotten  it 
themselves;  to  have  relinquished  at  least  the 
most  valuable  part  of  their  claim,  and  to  have 
conspired  with  those  male  tyrants  in  sinking 
their  own  importance  ?  How  often  do  we  see 
them  disfigured  by  affectation  and  caprice! 
How  often  disgraced  and  ruined  by  imprudence  ! 
What  shameful  inattention  to  the  culture  of 
their  minds*  in  numberless  instances  !  What 
perversion,  in  not  a  few,  of  excellent  understand- 
ings, through  a  levity  that  passes  for  innocent? 
because  not  polluted  by  vice,  nay  for  agreeable, 
because  accompanied  with  youth!  Who  that  is 
a  well  wisher  to  the  sex,  can  forbear  to  be  mor- 
tified on  finding  such  multitudes  so  ungainly  is 
their  manners,  so  unentertaining  in  their  dis* 

D2 


4$  THE    POLAR   STAtt. 

course,  so  destitute  of  every  solid  and  useful  im- 
provement, in  a  word,  so  totally  devoid  of  all 
that  can  confer  significance,  or  beget  esteem : 
not  to  speak  of  downright  worthlessness,  pro- 
ceeding from  bad  principles  or  wicked  company  ? 

With  respect  to  these  indeed,  as  well  as  the 
rest,  I  am  willing  to  believe,  that  they  are  fre- 
quently occasioned  by  vacancy  of  thought,  and 
want  of  occupation,  which  expose  the  mind  to 
every  snare ;  and  that  in  many  cases,  all  this  evil 
might,  through  God's  blessing,  be  happily  pre- 
vented by  an  early  and  diligent  application  to 
Female  Accomplishments.  Such  therefore  I 
will  proceed  to  recommend,  as  a  farther  means 
of  maintaining  the  sobriety  enjoined  by  our 
Apostle.  Not  that  I  suppose  to  confine  myself 
to  this  single  view.  Every  other  laudable  and 
beneficial  purpose,  which  those  accomplish- 
ments are  calculated  to  serve,  will  concur  to 
enforce  them.  They  may  be  divided  into  three 
classes,  Domestic,  Elegant,  and  Mental. 

As  to  the  first,  I  must  remind  you  that,  how 
much  soever  they  may  be  now  neglected  by  ma- 
ny women  as  below  their  notice,  no  height  of 
rank  or  affluence  can  justify  such  neglect.  The 
«are  of  an  household  all  ages  and  nations  have 
agreed  to  consider  as  an  indispensible  part  ol" 
female  employment,  in  every  situation  that  ad- 
mits of  it.  The  passage  from  which  I  have  takea 


THE  POLAR   STAR.  £9 

one  of  my  texts  deserves  on  this  occasion,  your 
particular  attention.  As  it  exhibits  perhaps  the 
most  beautiful  picture  that  was  ever  drawn  of 
the  Virtuous  Woman,  in  a  sphere  of  activity 
which  you  all  hope  to  fill,  and  for  which  you 
ought  to  qualify  yourselves  as  much  as  possible 
in  your  condition ;  I  will  read  the  whole  toge- 
ther with  a  short  paraphrase  which  I  have  bor- 
rowed chiefly  from  the  pious  and  learned  bishop 
Patrick,  but  without  adhering  to  his  diction. 

Verse  10.  «  Who* can  find  a  Virtuous  Woman  ? 
for  her  price  is  far  above  rubies.0  Such  a  per- 
son, says  the  mother  of  Lemuel  (a  young  Prince 
for  whose  welfare  she  was  most  tenderly  solicit- 
ous) such  a  person  as  I  would  recommend  for  a 
wife  is  hard  to  be  found  ;  one  endowed  with  true 
worth  and  piety,  who  deems  nothing  beneath  her 
that  can  any  way  become  her  station  ;  one,  in 
short,  possessed  of  those  various  and  excellent 
qualities  that  fit  her  for  adorning  it  and  render 
her  infinitely  more  valuable  than  all  the  pearls 
or  precious  stones  with  which  so  many  women 
are  fond  of  being  decked. 

11.  "The  heart  of  her  husband  doth  safely 
trust  in  her;  so  that  he  shall  have  no  need  of 
spoil.55  In  her  personal  honour  and  fidelity,  and 
also  in  her  (Economy  and  prudence  with  regard 
to. all  affairs  at  home,  her  husband  reposes  such 
perfect  confidence,  that  he  can  go  abroad;  and 


50  THE   POLAR   STAB. 

attend  to  public  business,  without  the  smallest 
anxiety  about  his  domestic  concerns,  or  the  least 
temptation  to  enrich  himself  at  the  expence  of 
other  men. 

±2.  "  She  will  do  him  good  and  not  evil,  all  the 
daj  s  of  his  life."  She  will  not  only  return  his  Jove 
with  equal  affection,  but  endeavour  to  ensure  and 
heighten  his  esteem  by  every  engaging  and  re- 
spectable virtue.  She  will  not  only  avoid  what- 
ever might  provoke  or  displease,  but  study  to 
deserve  well  of  him  by  promoting  his  interest? 
and  raising  his  reputation ;  and  that  not  on'v  by 
starts,  or  transient  fits  of  good  humour,  but  uni- 
formly and  constantly  every  day  of  her  life. 

13.  "  She  seeketh  wool  and  flax,  and  uorketb 
willingly   with  her  hands.5'      To  her  idleness  is 
so  hateful,  that  her  husband  has  no  occasion   to 
excite  her  to  industry.     Of  her  own  accord  she 
sets  up  a  linen  and  woollen  manufacture,  to  which 
she  applies  her  hands  so  readily,  as  well  as  so 
dexterously,  that  it  is  apparent  she  delights  io 
work, 

14.  «  She  is  like  a  merchant's  ship:  she  bring- 
cth  her  food   from  afar."  Her  application  and 
ingenuity  enable  her   to   maintain   her    family 
without  expence,  by  exchanging  the  product  for 
foreign  commodities,  when  necessary,  on  terms 
no  less  advantageous  than  if  her  husband  fittest 


THE   POliAR   STAR.  51 

out  a  fleet  of  merchant  ships  to  fetch  them  di- 
rectly from  distant  countries. 

15.  «  She  riseth  also  while  it  is  yet  night ;  and 
giveth  meat  to  her  household,  and   a  portion  to 
her  maidens.'5      With  such  spirit  and   vigour 
does  stoe  proceed,  that  instead  of  indulging  her- 
self in  overmuch  sleep,  she  rises  before  hreak 
of  day,  to  make  provision  for  those  who  are  to 
go  abroad  to  work  in  the  fields,  and  to  set  her 
maidens  their  several  tasks  at  home. 

16.  "  She  considereth  a  field,  and  buyeth  it : 
with  the  fruit  of  her  hands  she  planteth  a  vine- 
yard." So  far  is  she  from  wasting  her  husband's 
estate,  that  by  her  frugality  and  capacity  she  is 
continually   improving    it ;    first  purchasing  a 
field  fit  for  corn,  when  she  meets  with  one  that 
on  due  inspection  she  finds  worth  the  price,  and 
then  from  the  fruit  of  her  w\VT«  labour  adding  to 
it  a  vineyard,  which  she  takes  care  to  have  well 
planted. 

17.  <*  She  girdeth  her  Joins  with  strength,  and 
strengtheneth  her  arms.'5      As  she  is  quick  in 
her  orders  to  those  about  her,  so  she  bestirs  her- 
self with  the  utmost  activity,  declining  no  pains 
or  exertion  proportioned  to  her  strength,  which 
is  increased  by  constant   exercise,  and  which, 
with  the  cheerfulness,  expedition,  and  utility  that 
attend  it,  she  prefers  to  all  the  decorations  a  de- 
licacy of  indolent  beauty. 


bft  THE   POL  AH    STAR. 

18.  «  She  perceiveth  that  her  merchandise  is 
good  ;  her  candle  goeth  not  out  by  night."  Her 
labour  indeed  she  finds  so  wholesome,  and  her 
traffic  so  profitable,  that  she  does  not  always 
conclude  her  work  with  the  day;  but  often  con- 
tinues it  through  as  much  of  the  night,  as  can  be 
spared  from  necessary  repose. 

±9.  "  She  layeth  her  hands  to  the  spindle,  and 
her  hands  hold  the  distaff."  Such  manual 
operations  as  are  suited  to  her  sex,  she  reckons 
not  any  disparagement  to  her  quality.  Her 
fingers  show  a  dexterity  that  is  alike  pleasing  in 
the  performance,  and  beneficial  in  the  effects. 

20.  "  She  stretcheth  out  her  hand  to  the  poor : 
yea,  she  reacheth  forth  her  hands  to  the  needy." 
Those  hands,  which   she  employs  with  so  much 
diligence  for  the  advantage  of  her  family,  she 
fails  not  to  stretch  out  with  equal  alacrity  for  the 
relief  of  the  indigent.     She  is  not  so  engrossed 
by  the  cares  of  her  own  household,  as  to  forget 
the  claims  of  those  who  have  no  habitation.     In 
her  frugality  she  neve?  degenerates  into  parsimo- 
ny,  but  always  ministers  to  munificence.     The 
poor,   whether  nearer  or  more  remote,  share 
liberally  in  her  bounty. 

21.  "  She  is  not  afraid   of  the  snow  for  her 
household:    for  all    her    household    are   clothed 
\vith  scarlet."     Her  bounty   in  the  mean   while 
is  accompanied  with  such  discretion,  that  her 


THE   FOIUTI    STAR.  55 

own  family  and  servants  are  in  no  danger  of  suf- 
fering by  it.  They  are  provided  against  the 
hardest  winter  ;  they  have  changes  of  raiment 
for  the  several  seasons ;  and  when  they  are  to 
wait  upon  her,  or  to  appear  on  any  particular 
occasion  that  requires  it,  she  is  careful  to  have 
them  clothed  with  a  degree  of  splendor. 

22.  "  She  maketh  herself  covering  of  tapes- 
try :  her  clothing  is  silk  and  purple.'5     The  fur- 
niture of  her  house  is  noble.     Her  own  apparel 
corresponds  with  it.     She  is  not  ignorant  of  what 
belongs  to  her  rank  ;  and  she  supports  it  with 
a  magnificence  so  much   the  more   conspicuous 
for  being  principally  her  own  handy-work. 

23.  "  Her   husband  is   known  in  the   gates, 
when  he  sitteth  among  the  elders  of  the  land." 
Her  attention  to  the  appearance  of  her  husband 
is  not  less  than  to  her  o\vn.     When  he  comes  in- 
to the  court  of  judicature,  and  takes  his  place 
among  the   senators  of  the  country,  he  is   dis- 
tinguished by   the   richness  and  elegance  of  the 
robes  which  she  has  prepared  for  him.     The  be- 
holders pronounce  him  a  happy  man,  in  having 
such  a  wife,  as  does  him  honour  in  public  as  well 
as  private,  and  who  by  easing  him  of  all  lesser 
cares,  leaves  him  at  full  liberty  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  most  important  transactions. 

24.  «  She  maketh  fine  linen  and  selleth  it,  and 
delivereth  girdles  unto  the  merchant."    Her  in- 


5i  THE   POIAR    STAR. 

dustry  to  provide  for  her  family  is  such,  that 
she  follows  more  arts  than  one  or  two ;  making? 
for  example,  besides  other  articles  already  nam- 
ed, fine  linen,  embroidered  belts,  and  girdles  of 
different  kinds,  curiously  wrought,  which  she 
sells  at  a  considerable  price  to  the  Phoenician 
merchant. 

25.  "  Strength  and  honour  are  her  clothing  ; 
and  she  shall   rejoice  in  time  to   come.5'     Al- 
though in  every  thing  she  makes,   whether  for 
sale  or  for  use,  she  displays  a  just  taste  of  what 
is  both  beautiful  and  splended,   still  it  must  be 
remembered,   that  her  chief  ornaments  are  a 
firm  and  constant  mind,  a  modest  and  becoming 
deportment,  a  manner  of  dealing  with  all,  that 
is  honourable,  uniform,  t,nd  generous  ;   which 
joined  to  her  other  qualities  before  mentioned, 
free  her  from  all  fear  about  future  events,  and 
prepare  her  to  meet  affliction,  decay,  and  even 
death  itself,  with  serenity  and  hope. 

26.  «  She  openeth  her   mouth  with  wisdom, 
and  in  her  tongue  is  the  law  of  kindness."     Add 
to  the  rest  this  particular  praise,  that  as  she 
preserves  the  due  mean  between  taciturnity  and 
loquaciousness,  so  she  loves  not  to  talk  on  fool- 
ish and  frivolous  subjects  :    but  on  such  as  are 
serious  and  useful ;   on  which,  when  she  can  in- 
troduce them  with  propriety,  she  is  sure  to  de- 
liver herself  pertinently  and  gracefully.      Her 


THE   VOI.AR -.STAK,  ^ 

language  on  all  occasions  is  soft  and  pleasing, 
expressive  of  a  gentle  mind,  and  a  tender  heart. 
From  the  same  fund,  she  is  led  to  embrace  every 
opportunity  of  inculcating  on  all  around  her, 
kind  affection,  and  mutual  concord. 

27.  "  She  looketh  well  to  the  ways   of  her 
household,  and  eateth  not  the  hread  of  idleness." 
In  her  own  house  most  especially  she  is  studious 
of  conveying  edification.     She  observes  the  mo- 
tions,   and  inspects  the   manners  of  every  one 
there,  whom  she  neither  suffers  to  go  abroad  at 
their  pleasure,  nor   to  labour  at  borne  without 
proper    instruction :     a  concern,    which   alone 
might  be  thought  sufficient  to  employ  her  ;  in- 
somuch that  if  she  did  nothing  else  she  would 
yet  deserve  the  bread  she  eats. 

28.  **  Her  children   rise  up  and  call  her  bles- 
sed :    her   husband  also,  and  he   praiseth  her." 
Happy    the  children  of  such  a  mother,    whose 
niuternal  care  for  their  provision,   but    much 
more  for  their  education,  cannot  fail  of  exciting 
their  love  and  gratitude   very  early,  and  of  dis- 
posing them,  when  grown  up,  to  honour  her  per- 
son and  venerate   her  virtues!      Happy  beyond 
expression  the  husband  of  such  a  wife  !     He  can 
never   commend  her  sufficiently.      While  he  at- 
tempts the  favourite  subject,  he  is  so  struck  with 
her  surpassing  worth,  that  he  cannot  restrain 
himself  from  crying  out. 

E 


56  THE    POXAR   STAR. 

2D.  «  Many  daughters  have  done  virtuously 
but  thoii  excellest  them  all.5'  The  number  of 
those  women  who  have  acted  worthily,  who  have 
mightily  advanced  their  families,  and  nobly 
served  the  generations  in  which  they  lived,  is  not 
small.  They  are  well  entitled  to  applause,  and 
I  give  it  them  with  pleasure  ;  but  there  was 
never  any  comparable  to  thee.  Thy  merits, 
thon  best  of  women,  and  most  beloved,  thy  mer- 
its far,  far  transcend  them  all ! 

30.  "  Favour  is  deceitful,  and  beauty  is  vain  : 
but  a  woman  that  feareth  the  Lord,  she  shall  be 
praised."     A  good  complexion  and  fine  shape  are, 
no  doubt,  engaging*     A  graceful  mien  and  love- 
ly features  are  yet  more  s@.    But  as  the  greatest 
beauty  soon  fades,  and  at  last  vanishes,  so,  alas ! 
many  ill    qualities    may  lie  concealed  under  all 
those  fair  appearances  ;    such,  indeed,  as  utter- 
ly to  .disappoint  every  hope  of  happiness  raised 
from  thence* '  $  truly  pious  woman,  one  who  is 
governed  tltfoJTghout  by  a  sense  of  duty,  and  who 
to  all  her  other  excellent  qualities  adds  that  re- 
verence for  God,  which  gives  them  at  once  ele- 
vation  and  stability — she,  and  she  alone,  is  the 
completely  amiable  object,  who  will  always  im- 
part delight,  and  always  deserve  approbation. 

31.  "  Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  bunds,  and 
let  her  own  work  praise  her  in  the  gates."     Let 
all  conspire  to  extol  her  character ;  for  I  cannot 


TtIK   POL  IK    STAK.  5 

do  it  enough.  Let  her  never  want  her  just  tri- 
bute of  commendation.  While  some  are  magni- 
fied for  their  high  birth,  some  prized  for  their 
great  fortune,  others  admired  for  their  singular 
beauty,  and  others  cried  up  for  attainments  of 
no  intrinsic,  or  of  no  Considerable  value  ;  let  her 
personal  conduct,  and  her  superior  qualities,  be 
celebrated  with  peculiar  honours  in  the  largest 
assemblies  ;  where,  indeed,  if  all  men  should  be 
silent,  that  conduct  and  those  qualities  would  re- 
sound her  praise. 

What  a  description  is  here!  Canyon  attend 
to  it  wi>  fioat  emotion?  Or  have  modern  man- 
ners so  warped  your  minds,  that  the  simplicity 
of  ancient  virtue,  instead  of  appearing  to  jou  an 
object  of  veneration,  looks  romantic  and  ridicu- 
lous ?  Tell  me  then  in  good  earnest,  were  the 
women  of  those  days  the  less  estimable  or  the 
less  attractive,  that  they  did  not  waste  their 
lives  in  a  round  of  dissipalioa  and  impertinence, 
but  employed  them  in  works  of  ingenuity  and 
usefulness,  of  piety  and  mercy ;  that  even  women 
of  the  first  rank  amongst  them,  as  we  are  in- 
formed by  the  oldest  and  best  authors,  held  it 
no  diminution  to  apply  their  hands  to  different 
kinds  of  manufacture  ;  that  they  took  great  de- 
light in  such  occupations  ;  and  finally,  that  good 
housewifery,  in  all  its  extent,  was  reckoned  an 
essential  qualification  of  every  matron, 


£8  THE   POL4H   STAR. 

I  am  sufficiently  sensible  of  (he  influence  that 
the  customs  of  different  ages  and  nations  have  on 
the  modes  of  thinking  that  successively  ohtain  5 
nor  do  I  expect,  that  in  this  land  called  Chris- 
tian, which  ought  to  be  unequalled  on  account 
of  its  attainments,  as  much  as  it  is  on  that  of  its 
advantages,  our  mothers  or  our  daughters,  in 
general,  will  be  persuaded  by  any  thing  which 
preachers  can  say,  to  emulate  the  humble  grand- 
eur of  many  a  noble  lady,  of  many  a  fair  prin- 
cess, in  former  generations.  Yet  1  am  not  with- 
out hope,  that  gome  of  them  may  be  induced  to 
copy,  though  at  a  distance,  those  modest  but  ex- 
alted originals. 

I  mentioned  our  daughters,  as  well  as  mothers ; 
because  I  would  not  have  them  think  that  they 
have  nothing  to  learn  from  the  picture  we  have 
just  surveyed.  Would  the  Virtuous  Women,  so 
sweetly  pourt rayed  by  Lemuel's  mother,  and  so 
particularly  marked  by  the  characters  of  mar- 
ried and  maternal  excellence,  have  been  what 
she  was,  if  in  her  single  state  she  had  not  studied 
the  necessary  principles  ? 

After  looking  at  so  sublime  a  standard,  I  am 
well  aware,  that  any  thing  I  can  now  offer  on 
this  part  of  my  subject  will  appear  to  sink.  I 
am  sorry  for  it.  But  hence  it  must  be  so,  let 
the  mortifying  sentiment  be  felt  by  all,  as  a  just 
s.atire  OH  the  declension  of  this  age.  The  zeal 


THE    IJOLAU    STAlt.  $9 

indeed  of  the  preacher  is  too  much  depressed  by 
that  consideration,  to  hear  him  out  in  urging 
our  young  women  to  a  close  imitation  of  what 
however  he  must  always  admire.  In  short, 
when  we  speak  of  g/ood  housewifery  now-a-days. 
we  must  submit  to  speak  in  a  lower  key.  Would 
to  heaven,  that  of  this  science  many  mothers 
would  teach  their  daughters  hut  the  common  ru- 
diments ;  that  they  were  unfashionable  enough 
to  educate  them  to  he  fit  for  any  thing  but  mere 
show ! 

What  do  not  great  families  suffer  daily  from 
the  incapacity,  or  inattention,  of  those  mistresses 
that  leave  all  to  house-keepers  and  othef  ser- 
vants !  How  many  large  estates  might  be  saved 
from  ruin  by  a  wiser  conduct !  I  must  say  it 
once  more,  that  no  woman  in  the  world  ought 
to  thing  it  beneath  her  to  be  an  (Economist.  An 
(Economist  is  a  character  truly  respectable,  in 
whatever  station.  To  see  that  time  which  should 
be  laid  out  in  examining  the  accounts,  regulating 
the  operations  and  watching  over  the  interests^ 

of  perhaps,  a  numerous  family to  see  it  lost, 

worse  than  lost,  in  visiting  and  gaming,  « in 
chambering  and  wantonness,'5  is  shocking.  It 
is  so,  let  the  incomes  be  as  certain,  as  consider- 
able, or  as  immense  as  you  will :  though  by  the 
way  they  are  hardly  ever  so  immense  in  reality 
as  they  often  appear.  But  where  on  the  contra 


tiO  THE    PO£Aft    STAft* 

ry,  they  are  both  moderate  and  precarious,  a 
conduct  of  this  kind  we  have  no  words  to  stig- 
matize as  it  deserves. 

Merchants  and  tradesmen  that  marry  suck 
women  are  surely  objects  of  singular  compas- 
sion, if  indeed  they  were  deceived  into  an  opin- 
ion, that  the  women  they  have  chosen  for  their 
partners,  were  taught  this  necessary  piece  of 
knowledge.  But  Tery  seldom,  as  matters  are 
managed. at  present,  have  they  such  deception  to 
plead  for  their  choice.  Is  it  possible  they  can 
Jie  ignorant  in  what  manner  young  ladies  are 
fored  at  most  of  our  boarding  schools  ?  And  do 
they  hot  see  in  what  manner  they  generally  be- 
have on  coming  home  ?  Seme  of  them  I  ac- 
knowledged before,  when  placed  in  houses  of 
their  own,  appear  to  much  more  advantage  than 
4*ouid  be  reasonably  expected.  But  I  repeat  the 
question  I  then  asked,  is  so  great  a  chance,  in  an 
affair  of  such  consequence,  to  be  relied  upon  ? 

It  must  be  owned  also,  that- in  this  age  the 
order  or  figure  of  a  table  is  pretty  well  under- 
stood, as  far  as  relates  to  splendor  and  parade. 
But  would  it  not  be  worth  your  while  to  improve 
upon  the  art,  by  learning  to  connect  frugality 
with  elegance  ;  to  produce  a  genteel,  or  how- 
ever a  good  appearance,  from  things  of  less  ex- 
pence?  I  know  it  is  difficult,  especially  in  great 
cities;  but  I  am  sure  it  is  laudable^  and  de~ 


THE    POJDAH    STAR>  01 

serves  to  be  attempted.  This  you  may  depent* 
upon,  that  most  men  are  highly  pleased  to  ob- 
serve such  oeeonomical  talents  in  a  yonng  wo~ 
man ;  and  those  talents  in  one  that  is  married 
will  scarce  ever  fail  to  animate  the  application , 
excite  the  generosity  and  heighten  the  confidence 
of  a  husband.  The  contrary  discourages  and 
disgusts  beyond  expression  ;  I  mean,  where  the 
husband  has  any  sobriety,  or  any  prudence. 
The  follies  inseparable  from  profusion,  and  the 
miseries  daily  produced  by  it,  I  do  not  pretend 
to  enumerate.  A  moment's  consideration  will 
convince  you  that  it  is  always  unwise,  and  must 
be  generally  destructive. 

Next  to  direct  profusion  is  that  indisposition 
to  family  affairs,  which  too  commonly  follows  on 
habits  of  dissipation  contracted  early.  A  young 
woman  who  has  turned  her  thoughts  to  those 
matters  in  her  father's  house,  or  in  any  other 
where  Providence  may  have  disposed  her  lot 
and  who  has  been  accustomed  to  acquit  herself 
well  in  any  lesser  department  entrusted  to  her 
care,  will  afterwards,  when  her  province  is  en- 
larged, slide  into  the  duties  of  it  with  readiness 
and  pleasure.  The  particulars  have  already 
passed  through  her  mind.  The  different  scenes, 
as  they  rise,  will  not  disconcert  her.  Being 
acquainted  with  the  leading  rules,  and  having 
had  some  opportunities  of  applying  them,  or  of 


VX  THE    FOLA&    STAR. 

seeing  them  applied,  her  own  good  sense  will  dic- 
tate the  rest,  and  render  easy  and  agreeable  to 
her  that  which,  to  a  modish  lady,  is  all  strange, 
perplexing,  and  irksome.  How  strong  the  con- 
trast  !  Who  does  not  perceive,  where  the  pre- 
ference is  due  ? 

Hear  what  a  masterly  writer  who  seems  to 
have  been  well  acquainted  with  the  world,  and 
particularly  with  the  commercial  part  of  it,  has 
advanced  on  this  head  in  his  advice  to  a  son, 
where  he  is  directing  him  as  to  the  choice  of  a 
wife.  "  This  bear  always  in  mind,  that  if  she  is 
not  frugal,  if  she  is  not  what  is  called  a  good 
manager,  if  she  does  not  pique  herself  on  her 
knowledge  of  family  aifairs  and  laying,  out  her 
money  to  the  best  advantage;  let  her  be  ever  so 
sweetly  tempered,  gracefully  made,  or  elegantly 
accomplished,  she  is  no  wife  for  a  tradesman  : 
and  "  he  even  adds  "  all  those  otherwise  amiable 
talents  will  but  open  just  so  many  ways  to  ruin." 
After  relating  a  little  story,  full  of  instruction,, 
he  thus  goes  on  ;  "  In  short,  remember  your 
mother,  who  \vas  so  exquisitely  versed  in  this  art, 
that  her  dress,  her  table,  and  every  other  par- 
ticular, appeared  rather  splendid  than  other- 
wise; and  yet  good  housewifery  was  the  founda- 
tion of  all ;  and  her  bills  to  my  certain  knowL 
edge,  were  a  fourth  less  than  most  of  her  neigh- 
bours, who  had  hardly  cleanliness  to  boast^  in? 
return  for  their  aukward  prodigality ," 


THE    POLAR    STAK.  63 

But  perhaps  you  will  tell  me,  that  you  may 
never  have  occasion  to  exert  such  qualities  in 
any  sphere  of  consequence.  The  answer  is  ob- 
vious. As  the  future  is  uncertain,  you  ought  to 
acquire  them  in  case  of  need  5  besides  that  in 
fact  there  is  no  situation*  where  the  general 
principles  of  frugality  are  not  necessary,  on  the 
score  both  of  discretion  and  charity.  In  the 
mean  while,  the  acquisition  will  he  honourable* 
and  the  study  useful.  It  not  only  becomes  your 
sex,  but  will  employ  your  minds  innocently,  and 
virtuously,  at  hours  which  you  might  be  tempt- 
ed to  spend  in  a  very  different  manner.  The 
subject  is  not  intricate;  yet  it  admits  of  a  con- 
siderable detail,  and  will  take  up  some  time. 
The  learning  to  write  a  fair  hand,  and  to  cast 
accounts  with  facility  ;  the  looking  into  the  dis- 
positions and  practices  of  servants ;  the  inform- 
ing yourselves  about  the  prices  of  every  thing 
needful  for  a  family,  together  with  the  best 
methods,  and  properest  seasons,  for  providing  it ; 
the  observing  whatever  relates  to  cleanliness  SUM! 
neatness  in  the  furniture  and  apartments  of  a 
house  ;  the  understanding  how  to  deal  with  do- 
mestics, tradesmen,  and  others;  above  all  the 
obtaining  every  possible  life  with  relation  to  the 
nursing,  management,  and  education  of  children 
— these  and  such  like  articles  will,  if  I  mistake 
not.  furnish  ample  scope  for  the  exercise  of  your 


64  THE   POL  AH    STAR. 

faculties  in  (lie  pursuit  of  what  I  have  termed 
Domestic  Accomplishments.  Nor  would  I  have 
you  despise  any  one  of  them  as  trivial  or  dull? 
if  they  should  seem  either,  you  must  give  me 
leave  to  say  the  fault  is  in  you.  If  on  any  pre- 
tence whatever  you  should  affect  to  call  them  so* 

I  should  deem  it  a  mark  of Hut  I  forbear; 

and  for  your  encouragement  to  such  application, 
would  take  notice,  that  from  what  is  thus  neces- 
sary and  benefit-Id)  you  may,  time  after  time, 
pass  with  a  transition  often  imperceptible,  to 
what  is  also  pretty  entertaining.  Which  leads 
me  to  speak, 

In  the  second  place,  of  the  Elegant  Accom- 
plishments 1  proposed  to  recommend.  Of  these 
all  will  be  found  consistent  with  Christian  sobri- 
ety, and  several  conducive  to  it.  Where  morals 
are  not  in  some  measure  concerned,  the  peculiar 
modes  of  an  age  can  occasion  no  material  differ- 
ence. Some  particulars,  I  am  now  to  touch  up- 
on, might  not  suit  that  unsettled  and  persecuted 
state  which  the  first  professors  of  Christianity 
were  in,  nor  that  distinguished  severity  of  man- 
ners which  would  naturally  arise  out  of  such  a 
condition,  as  well  as  out  of  their  late  separation 
from  Paganism ;  and  yet  those  things  may  be 
no  way  improper  in  a  Christian  woman  of  these 
times,  when  religion  is  established,  when  pro- 
perty is  secured,  and  when  the  prevalence  of  a 


THE    POLAR    STAR.  65 

system  supremely  benevolent  has  nothing  to  fear 
from  a  jealous  policy,  or  a  bigotted  priesthood. 

To  begin  with  that  exercise  which  women  ap- 
pear almost  universally  fond  of,  but  which  scru- 
pulous minds  have  usually  thought  exceptionable. 
For  my  own  part,  I  must  acknowledge,  I  can  see 
no  reason  against  the  moderate  and  discreet  use 
of  dancing.  «  To  every  thing,"  says  Solomon, 
"  there  is  a  season,  and  a  time  to  every  purpose 

under  heaven  :" among  (he  rest <*  a  time 

to  dance."  Even  those  pursuits  which  all  ap- 
prove, and  approve  most  highly,  may  be  abused. 
Nothing  is  exempt  from  snares;  but  one  of  the 
worst  is  a  disposition  to  be  peevish,  illiberal,  and 
unsociable.  In  the  Jewish  institution,  it  is  well 
known,  the  exercise  in  question  was  adopted  into 
religious  worship  itself.  It  is  yet  more  remark- 
able, that  in  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son  our 
Saviour  mentions  dancing,  as  making  a  part  of 
the  friendly  and  honest  festivity  indulged  on  Ins 
return.  The  single  instance  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament,  wherein  it  was  perverted  to  a 
pernicious  purpose,  has  been  weakly  urged  a- 
gainst  a  practice  that  used  with  temperance  and 
prudence,  is  certainly  adapted  to  promote  health 
and  humour,  a  social  spirit,  and  kind  aff  ctions 
between  the  sexes,  with  that  easy  graceful  car- 
riage, to  which  nature  has  annexed  very  pleas- 
ing perceptions  in  the  beholders. 


66  THE    POLAR    STAR. 

With  respect  to  this  last,  it  seems  to  me,  that 
there  can  he  no  impropriety  in  it,  any  more  than 
in  modulating  the  voice  into  the  most  agreeable 
tones  in  singing  ;  which  none,  I  think,  \vill  ob- 
ject to.  What  is  dancing  in  the  best  sense,  but 
the  harmony  of  motion  rendered  more  palpable  ? 
Aukwardness,  rusticity,  ungraceful  gestures, 
can  never  surely  be  meritorious.  It  is  the  ob- 
servation of  a  celebrated  philosopher,  who  was 
deeply  skilled  on  most  subjects,  that  *<  the  princi- 
pal part  of  beauty,  is  in  a  decent  and  gracious 
motion."  Here  indeed  one  cannot  help  regret- 
ing,  that  this  which  may  be  considered  in  some 
measure  as  the  virtue  of  the  bod\,  is  not  oftener 
seen  in  our  country,  as  if  the  sole  design  of  danc- 
ing was  to  supply  the  amusement  of  the  heart. 
A  modest  but  animated  mien,  an  air  ;?t  once  un- 
afft'C'ted  and  noble,  arc  doubtless  circumstances 
of  great  attraction  and  dr-Ji^ht. 

I  said  a  modes!  mien  ;  for  that  must  never  be 
given  up  :  and  on  this  account.  1  own,  I  cannot 
much  approve  of  a  young  lu'dy's  dancing  often  in 
public  assemblies,  which  without  a  single  guard, 
must  gradually  wear  off  that  lovely  bashfulness 
so  largely  inculcated  in  a  former  discourse.  Pri- 
vate circles  consisting  chiefly  of  friends  and  re- 
lations, and  where  persons  of  more  years  than 
the  younger  performers  are  present,  1  should 
esteem  in  every  respect  the  most  eligible.  Where 


THE  POLAR   STAR.  6? 

such  precautions  are  observed,  and  tins  diver- 
sion is  not  suffered  to  interfere  with  health,  reg- 
ularity, modest  apparel,  and  prudent  expenee ;  I 
freely  confess,  that  I  am  one  of  those  who  can 
look  on  with  a  very  sensible  satisfaction,  well 
pleased  to  see  a  company  of  young  people  joyful 
with  innocence,  and  happy  in  each  other.  If  an 
exercise  so  sociable,  and  so  enlivening,  was  to  oc- 
cupy some  part  of  that  time  which  is  lavished 
on  cards,  would  the  youth  of  either  ^ex  be  losers 
by  it  ?  I  thing  not. 

Having  mentioned  cards,  I  will  use  the  fre- 
dom,  unpleasing  as  it  may  prove,  or  ill  bred  as 
it  may  seem,  to  offer  a  few  plain  remarks  ofi  the 
passion  for  them,  which  is  now  become  so  strange- 
ly predominant,  as  to  take  the  lead  of  every 
thing  else  in  almost  every  company  of  every 
rank.  With  many  indeed  it  seems  to  be  a  call- 
ing, and,  as  a  witty  author  has  observed,  «  a  la- 
borious one  too,  such  as  they  toil  night  and  day 
at,  nay  do  not  allow  themselves  that  remission 
which  the  laws  both  of  God  and  man  have  pro- 
vided for  the  meanest  mechanic.  The  sabbath  is  to 
them  no  day  of  rest ;  but  this  trade  gi^es  on  when 
all  shops  are  shut,  f  know  not,"  continues  he, 
«  how  they  satisfy  themselves  in  such  an  habitual 
waste  of  their  time;  but  I  much  doubt  that  plea, 
whatsoever  it  is,  which  passeth  with  them,  will 
scarce  hold  weight  at  his  tribunal  who  hath 


68  THE  "POLAR    STAll. 

aomnianded  us  to  redeem,  not  fling  away  our 
time." 

To  the  same  occupation  what  numhers  sacri- 
fice their  health  and  spirits,  with  every  natural 
pleasure  that  depends  on  these,  not  excepting 
even  the  comforts  of  fresh  air  ;  pursuing  it  in 
the  country  with  the  same  unahating  ardour  as 
in  town,  and  to  all  the  heauty  and  sweetness  of 
rural  scenes,  in  the  finest  season,  preferring  the 
suffocating  atmosphere  of  perhaps  a  small  apart- 
ment, where  they  regularly,  every  day  if  possi- 
ble, croud  round  the  card  tahle  for  hours  toge- 
ther. What  neglect  of  business  and  study,  what 
ruin  of  credit,  of  fortune,  of  families,  of  con- 
nexions, of  all  that  is  valuable  in  this  world,  of- 
ten follows  the  frenzy  I  speak  of,  who  can  ex- 
press ? 

I  will  suppose,  my  fair  hearers,  nay  I  do  hope, 
that  the  demon  of  avarice  has  not  yet  taken 
possession  of  }  our  hearts.  But  do  you  know  any 
thing  so  likely  to  introduce  him,  as  the  spirit  of 
gaming  ?  Is  not  this  last  a  kindred  fiend  ;  and 
does  not  he,  like  most  other  tempters,  advance 
by  slow  steps,  and  with  a  smiling  aspect?  Tell 
me  in  sober  sadness,  what  security  can  you  have 
tliat  the  love  of  play  will  not  lead  you  to  the  love 
of  gaining? 

Between  those  I  know  there  is  a  distinction. 
But  it  is  but  a  distinction,  at  best,  resembling 


THE  POL1R  STAR.  69 

that  between  twilight  and  darkness ;  and  does 
not  one  succeed  the  other  almost  as  naturally  ? 
The  former  at  first  is  cheerful  and  serene,  re- 
taining some  rays  of  pleasantry  and  good  hu- 
mour; but  by  little  and  little  these  disappear. 
A  deepening  shade  takes  place  ;  till  at  last,  every 
emanation  of  mirth  and  good  nature  dying  away, 
all  is  involved  in  the  gloom  of  anxiety,  suspicion, 
envy,  disgust,  and  every  dreadful  passion  that 
lowers  in  the  train  of  eovetousness.  I  say  not, 
that  this  always  happens  ;  but  I  ask  again,  what 
security  is  there  that  it  will  not  happen  to  you  ? 
Did  not  every  gamester  in  the  world,  whether 
male  or  female,  begin  just  where  you  do?  And 
is  it  not  probable,  that  many  of  that  infamous 
tribe  had  once  as  little  apprehension  as  you  can 
have,  of  proceeding  to  those  lengths  to  which 
they  have  since  run,  through  the  natural  pro- 
gress of  vice,  no  where  more  infatuating  or  more 
rapid  than  in  this  execrable  one  ? 

But  let  us  suppose  the  desire  of  winning* 
should  in  you  never  rise  to  that  rage,  which 
agitates  the  breast  of  many  a  fine  lady,  discom- 
poses those  features,  and  inflames  those  eyes, 
where  nothing  should  be  seen  but  soft  illumina- 
tion. Are  there  not  lower  degrees  in  the  thirst 
of  gain,  which  a  liberal  mind  would  ever  care- 
fully avoid  ?  And  pray  consider ;  when  either 
by  superior  skill,  or  what  is  called  better  luck, 


"0  THE   POJ.AR   STAR. 

you  happen  to  strip  her  of  money,  of  that  money 
W'hieh  it  is  very  possible  she  can  ill  spare,  an  ac- 
quaintance, a  companion,  a  friend,  one  whom 
you  profess  at  least  to  love  and  honour,  perhaps 
Hi  the  very  moment  to  entertain  with  all  the  sa- 
cred rites  of  hospitality is  there  nothing  un- 
kind, nothing  sordid,  in  giving  way  to  that  which 
draws  after  it  such  consequences  ?  Is  this  the 
spirit  of  friendship  or  humanity  ? — Blessed  God  ! 
how  does  the  passion  I  condemn  deprave  the  wor- 
thiest affections  of  nature  ,*  and  how  does  that 
bewitching  power,  the  fashion  of  the  times,  per- 
vert even  the  best  understandings,  when  resign- 
ed to  its  impostures ! 

Nor  is  it  the  laws  of  humanity  and  friendship 
only,  that  are  transgressed  by  the  lust  of  gam- 
ing. The  sweet  emotions  of  love  and  tenderness 
between  the  sexes  are  often  swallowed  up  by 
this  all  devouring  appetite  ;  an  appetite,  which 
perhaps  beyond  any  thing  else  tends  to  harden 
and  contract  the  heart,  at  the  same  time  that 
the  immoderate  indulgence  of  it  excludes  a  thou- 
sand little  reciprocations  of  sentiment  and  joy? 
which  would  serve  to  kindle  and  feed  the  flame 
of  virtuous  affection, How  much  conversa- 
tion suffers  from  it,  who  does  not  perceive  ? 

Here  indeed,  you  will  tell  me  with  an  air  of 
triumph,  that  it  prevents  a  great  deal  of  scandal. 
\VJjat,  then,  are  your  minds  so  unfurnished,  so 


THE   FOLAIt   STATK.  71 

vacant,  that  without  cards  you  must  necessarily 
fly  to  that  wretched  resource  ?  Creation,  pro- 
vidence, religion,  books,  observation,  fancy  ;  do 
these  present  so  narrow  a  field  of  entertainment, 
as  to  force  you  on  the  alternative  of  preying  ei- 
ther on  the  reputation,  or  on  the  property  of 
others  ? — But,  now  I  recollect,  while  you  possess 
an  art  of  such  utility  as  this  last,  for  filling  up 
the  blanks  of  discourse,  as  well  as  for  repairing 
the  wastes  of  extravagance,  why  should  you 
give  yourselves  any  trouble  to  read  or  think,  to 
enlarge  your  ideas  or  improve  your  faculties,  be- 
yond the  usual  standard?  Surely  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  most  fashionable  games,  of  the  most 
remarkable  characters,  of  the  reigning  modes 
and  amusements  of  the  season,  with  a  few  com- 
mon-place compliments,  remarks,  and  matters 
of  fact,  but  especially  some  passages  of  private 
history,  told  by  way  of  secret  to  all  the  world,  is 
quite  sufficient,  by  the  help  of  a  little  vivacity 
which  nature  will  supply,  to  accomplish  you  for 
every  purpose  of  modern  society.— Alas,  how 
poor  is  all  this!  How  unworthy  the  principal 
attention  of  beings  made  '-but  a  little  lower  than 
the  angels,"  and  professing  to  believe  in  the 
communion  of  saints  ! 

But  are  there  not  many  genera!  companies  in 
vltiob  it  were  impossible  to  spe*.  d  a  long  eve- 
ning with  any  tolerable  ease,  or  propriety,  but 


72  THE    POLAR    STAR. 

by  borrowing  assistance  from  the  card  tnble  ?  I 
grant  it,  as  things  are  now  ;  and,  when  you  are 
so  situated,  your  complying  with  the  ^eeasion 
may  be  both  allowable  and  proper,  provided  the 
st«kes  are  but  trifling,  your  tempers  not  ruffled* 
and  what  you  win  or  lose  is  agreed  to  be  given 
away  in  charity.  By  this  means,  perhaps,  you 
may  «  make  to  yourselves  friends  of  the  mam- 
mon of  unrighteousness." 

But  tell  me,  I  beseech  you,  where  is  the  ne- 
cessity of  being  very  often  in  general  companies. 
Are  these  the  scenes  of  true  enjoyment  ?  What* 
where  the  heart  cannot  be  unfolded  ;  where  the 
understanding  has  little  or  no  play  ;  where  all 
is  reserve,  ceremony  show  ;  where  the  smile  of 
complaisance  is  frequently  put  on  to  deceive* 
and  even  the  warmest  professions  of  regard  are 
sometimes  made  the  "  cloak  of  maliciousness  I" 

There  is  not,  methinks,  any  thing  more  con- 
temptible, or  more  to  be  pitied,  than  that  turn  of 
mind,  which  finding  no  entertainment  in  itself, 
none  at  home,  none  in  books,  none  in  rational 
conversation,  nor  in  the  intercourses  of  real 
friendship,  nor  in  ingenious  works  of  any  kind, 
is  continually  seeking  to  stifle  reflection  in  a  tu- 
mult of  pleasures,  and  to  divert  weariness  in  a 
crowd. 

«  But  can  it  be  supposed,  that  even  in  more 
private  meetings  people  should  be  always  able  to 


THE    FOI,Att   STAB.  73 

pass  the  time  without  cards?"  You  ought  to 
speak  more  plain*  and  say  to  kill  the  time  ;  for 
that  is  commonly  the  ease.  By  the  most  favour- 
able reckoning,  the  greatest  part  of  those  hours 
they  are  devoted  to  play  is  lost.  That  which 
was  begun  for  amusement  is  lengthened  out  to 
fatigue.  No  one  improving  or  generous  idea  is 
circulated ;  no  one  happy  or  solacing  recollec- 
tion is  secured.  The  whole  is  to  be  set  down  as 
a  large  portion  of  the  span  of  life  cut  off  without 
advantage,  and  without  satisfaction,  as  far  a& 
virtue  or  reason  is  concerned. 

"  What  then  shall  we  do  when  together  ?" 
Do  !  why,  converse,  or  hold  your  tongues,  as 
good  sense  and  unaffected  nature  prompt  to  ei- 
ther. Do  !  why,  work*  read,  sing,  dance,  laugh, 
and  look  grave  by  turns*  as  occasion  serves  j  any 
thing  in  the  world  that  is  innocent,  rather  than 
eternal  play.  For  persons  in  all  the  gaiety  of 
health,  and  sprightliness  of  youth ;  persons  not 
relaxed  by  infirmity,  or  exhausted  by  business  ; 
persons  with  numberless  sources  of  delight  laid 
open  to  them,  and  every  natural  relish  lively  and 

strong. for  them  to  be  at  a  loss  how  to  spend 

a  single  evening  without  cards,  what  a  degrada- 
tion of  the  human  mind  I 

Willing  to  corroborate  an  argument  which  to 
me  appears  of  such  importance,  I  will  avail  my- 
self of  the  words  of  a  writer  now  living,  who  is 


7<*  THE   FO!AH  STAR. 

not  less  respectable  for  the  force  than  for  the 
morality  of  itis  pen.  Complaining  of  the  fatal 
passion  for  play,  he  mentions,  amongst  other 
mischiefs  to  which  it  leads,  «  its  tendency  to  de- 
stroy all  distinctions  both  of  rank  and  sex;  to 
crush  all  emulation,  but  that  of  fraud;  to  con- 
fotmd  the  world  in  a  chaos  of  folly  ;  to  with- 
hold youth  from  its  natural  pleasures,  .deprive 
wit  of  its  influence,  and  beauty  of  its  charms;  to 
extinguish  the  flames  of  the  lover,  as  well  as  of 
the  patriot;  to  sink  life  Into  a  tedious  uniformity^ 
and  to  allow  it  no  other  hopes  or  fears  hut  those 
of  robbing  and  being  robbed."  lie  adds  in  (he 
same  animated  style,  "  That  if  those  of  your 
sex  who  have  minds  capable  of  nobler  senti- 
ments will  unite  in  vindication  of  their  pleas- 
ures and  their  prerogatives,  they  may  fix  a 
time  at  which  cards  shall  cease  to  be  in  fashion, 
or  be  left  only  to  those  who  have  neither  beauty 
to  be  loved,  nor  spirit  to  be  feared  ;  neither 
knowledge  to  teach,  nor  modesty  to  learn ;  and 
who,  having  passed  their  youth  in  vice,  are  just- 
ly condemned  to  spend  their  age  in  folly." 

But  I  preceed  to  a  more  agreeable  task,  that 
of  recommending,  in  the  next  place,  those  in- 
genious works  mentioned  a  little  while  ago. 

As  to  needle  work  in  particular,  we  find  it 
spoken  of  in  scripture  with  c/mittendation.  Its 
beauty  and  advantages  are  universally  apparent* 


THE   POLAR   STAR.  7$ 

It  was  practised  by  ladies  formerly,  and  ladies 
of  the  first  rank,  much  more  than  it  is  at  present. 
They  indeed  have  much  more  leisure  than  most 
of  their  posterity.  They  were  simple  enough,  I 
suppose,  to  be  in  love  with  home,  and  to  seek 
their  happiness  in  their  duty.  Of  that  duty  they 
considered  diligence  as  a  part ;  nor  does  it  appear 
to  have  in  the  least  cramped  their  imaginations. 
Of  their  skill  in  this  way  we  have  seen  very 
laudable  monuments.  They  only  wanted  in- 
struction in  the  principles  of  the  fine  arts,  to 
give  their  performances  a  juster  taste.  At  any 
rate,  their  tin^e  would  by  such  means  pass  away 
more  pleasantly.  They  would  be  under  little 
temptation  of  wandering  abroad ;  consequently 
they  would  escape  infinite  snares  and  ineonve- 
nieneies.  Then  too,  private  conversation  would 
be  cultivated  on  a  much  more  rational  footing  ; 
and  many  a  pleasing  discussion  would  arise  on 
the  subject  of  their  various  productions.  Their 
fancies  called  forth  by  a  thousand  prettinesses, 
and  kept  up  by  the  spirit  of  elegant  emulation* 
would  of  course  be  polished  and  exalted.  This, 
I  believe,  will  be  found  true,  that  those  females 
of  the  present  age,  who  have  resolution  enough 
to  copy  so  antiquated  an  example,  seldom  fail  to 
prove  the  most  entertaining  companions. 

I  once  knew  a    lady,  nob  e   by  her4  birth,  but 
more  noble  by  her  virtues,  who  never  sut  idle  in 


rS  THE   POLAH  STAR, 

company,  unless  when  compelled  to  it  by  the 
punctilio  of  ceremony,  which  she  took  care 
should  happen  as  rarely  as  possible.  Being  a 
perfect  mistress  of  her  needle,  and  having  an 
excellent  taste  in  that,  as  in  many  other  things, 
her  manner,  whether  at  home,  or  abroad  with  her 
friends  (for  friends  she  had  enough,  though  a  lady 
of  fashion,  and  bred  at  court)  was  to  be  constant- 
ly engaged  in  working  something  useful,  or 
something  beautiful;  at  the  same  time  that  she 
assisted  in  supporting  the  conversation,  with  an 
attention  and  capacity  which  I  have  never  seen 
exceeded.  For  the  sake  of  variety  and  improve^- 
ment,  when  in  her  own  house,  some  one  of  the 
company  would  often  read  aloud,  while  she  and 
her  female  visitants  werr  thus  employed.  I 
must  add  that  during  an  intimate  acquaintance 
of  several  years,  I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen 
her  at  once  driven  to  the  polite  necessity  of 
either  winning  or  losing  money  at  play,  and 
making  her  guests  defray  the  expenee  of  the  en- 
tertainment. 

Permit  me,  before  I  dismiss  this  article,  to 
offer  a  hint  or  two,  that  may  not  be  unworthy 
your  observation.  Instead  of  that  minute  and 
laborious  kind  of  work,  which  is  often  practised 
by  young  ladies,  I  should  think  that  slighter  and 
free  patterns  v\ou!d  for  the  most  part  he  great- 
ly preferable.  The  sight  would  be  in  110  danger 


THE   POLAK   STAH.  77 

of  being  strained ;  much  less  time  would  be  re- 
quired to  finish  them ;  and*  when  finished,  they 
would  produce  a  much  better  effect.  They 
would  give,  beyond  comparison,  more  scope  to 
the  imagination ;  they  would  exhibit  an  ease,  a 
gracefulness,  and  a  flow  that  ought  to  enter,  as 
much  as  possible,  into  all  works  of  taste  ;  and  as 
they  would  admit  a  far  greater  multiplicity  of 
ornament,  so  likewise  the  purpose  *of  utility 
would  be  promoted  in  a  far  higher  degree, 

The  business  of  shading  with  the  needle  is  now 
comparatively,  seldom  thought  of  but  at  school, 
where  it  is  frequently  taught  in  a  paltry,  and  al- 
ways in  a  defective  manner,  though  certainly 
deserving  a  particular  attention.  The  disposi- 
tion, harmony,  and  melting  of  colours  in  this 
way,  afford  one  of  the  finest  exercises  to  female 
genius,  and  one  of  the  most  amusing  that  can  be 
imagined ;  besides  that  such  productions  are  the 
most  permanent. 

But  the  truth  is,  nothing  complete  or  distin- 
guished in  those  attempts  can  be  expected,  while 
the  proper  foundation  is  so  generally  omitted  to 
be  laid  ;  I  mean  drawing,  which  is 

The  third  accomplishment  I  would  take  the 
liberty  to  inculcate.  That  many  more  young 
ladies  would  be  found  qualified  for  such  a  study 
than  is  usually  apprehended,  I  cannot  doubt. 
Several,  I  am  certain,  have  applied  to  it  with 


78  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

the  greatest  success  and  pleasure*  who  before 
they  began,  did  not  promise  themselves  the  least. 
It  is  truly  surprising,  that  so  fe\v  of  our  more 
intelligible  females  should  show  a  desire  of  be- 
ing instructed  in  so  pleasing  an  art,  at  a  time 
too  when  it  is  to  be  learnt  with  such  advantage 
and  encouragement. 

!None  can  be  ignorant,  that  the  principles  and 
practice  erf  drawing  were  never  understood  a- 
mongst  us  to  the  height  they  are  at  present; 
owing  chiefly  to  the  patronage  of  a  society,  that 
reflects  the  greatest  credit  on  this  country,  and 
on  this  age.  But  here  justice  to  your  sex  demands 
an  acknowledgement  which  we  joyfully  make, 
that  several  honorary  rewards  have  been  most 
deservedly  gained  by  young  Indies  of  rank  and 
character,  for  specimens  of  ingenuity,  which  it 
is  to  be  hoped  their  grand  children  will  one  day 
mention  and  emulate  with  honest  pride. 

If  such  of  you,  my  amiable  hearers,  as  are  in 
a  situation  to  try  whether  nature  has  given  you 
talents  for  this  beautiful  accomplishment,  would 
fairly  mate  the  essay,  \ou  mi^lu  very  probably 
open  to  yourselves,  and  to  your  friends,  a  spring 
t)f  entertainment  that  would  never  run  dry  ;  that 
would  contribute  to  improve*  while  it  delighted 
you,  by  adding  to  your  ideas  of  elegance  and 
grace  ;  that  would  prevent  many  a  folly,  and 
many  a  sin,  which  proceed  from  idleness ;  and 


THE    POLAK    STAR.  7^ 

lie  not  hurt  if  I  add,  that  would  prove  the  means 
of  future  support,  should  it  please  the  su- 
preme wisdom  to  reduce  you  to  a  state  of  de- 
pendence. 

There  are  other  pretty  works  extremely  pro- 
per for  female  hands,  which  I  need  not  specify 
here,  since  several  of  the  remarks  already  made 
will,  I  presume,  be  applicable  to  them.  Let  it 
suffice  to  say  in  general,  that  whatever  is  gen- 
teel, and  whatever  is  useful,  in  such  occupations, 
should  always  claim  your  regard,  when  you 
have  leisure  ami  capacity.  The  former  you  will 
seldom  want,  if  you  have  learnt  to  portion  out 
your  time  with  judgment;  and  in  the  latter  you 
ought  never  to  pronounce  yourselves  detective, 
before  you  have  honestly  tried. 

The  last  accomplishment  of  the  "elegant  kind, 
which  I  shall  mention,  is  music.  This,  I  con- 
ceive, is  to  be  recommended  with  more  discrimi- 
nation than  the  rest,  how  much  soever  such  a 
notion  may  contradict  the  prevailing  opinion. 
There  are  young  ladies  indeed,  who,  without  any 
particular  advantage  of  a  natural  air  or  good 
voice,  have  by  means  of  circumstances  peculiarly 
favourable,  made  great  proficiency  in  music  :  but 
then  they  have  made  it  at  a  vast  expence  of  time 
and  application  ;  such  as  no  woman  ought  to  be- 
stow upon  an  object,  to  which  she  is  not  carried 
by  the  irresistable  impulse  of  genius. 

,  G 


30  THE    POLAR   STAR. 

In  many  other  arts  it  is  possible  for  original 
talents  to  Jie  dormant,  till  called  up  by  assiduity 
or  accident ;  but  where  there  is  a  strong  propen- 
sion  to  this,  it  will,  I  imagine,  hardly  forbear  to 
burst  out,  by  means  of  the  trancendant  pleasure 
derived  from  it  on  all  occasions.  If  it  does  not, 
if  even  the  beat  music  can  be  heard  without  a 
degree  of  delight  bordering  on  transport;  either 
the  practice  will  never  reward  the  pains  neces- 
sary for  acquiring  it  ;  or,  there  being  no  native 
vein  of  excellence  in  that  way,  it  will,  as  has 
been  commonly  observed,  be  discontinued  on  a 
change  of  condition  5  in  which  case  you  lose  the 
labour  of  years,  that  might  have  been  directed 
with  lasting  benefit  into  some  other  channel. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  you  will  readily  allow,  that 
for  a  young  lady  who  has  no  turn  for  the  study  I 
am  speaking  of,  to  be  condemned  both  to  morti- 
fy herself,  and  to  punish  her  acquaintance,  by 
murdering  every  lesson  put  into  her  hands,  is  a 
very  auk  ward  situation,  however  much  her  mas- 
ter may,  for  the  sake  of  his  craft,  flatter  her  and 
her  friends  ;  assuring  them,  perhaps  with  an  air 
of  great  solemnity,  that  he  never  had  a  better 
scholar  in  all  his  life.  If  she  whose  attainments 
in  this  kind  are  but  indifferent,  could  be  content- 
ed to  amuse  herself,  and  those  of  her  own  family 
now  and  then,  witli  an  air  that  happened  to 
please  them,  it  were  well ;  but  how  does  a  judi- 


THE    POLA.R    STAR.  £ 

cious  hearer  blush  for  the  poor  beginner,  when 
set  down  by  the  command  of  a  fond  parent  to  en- 
tertain, performing  that  of  which  she  scarce 
knows  the  very  rudiments;  while  all  is  disap- 
pointment on  their  part,  and,  if  she  has  any  un- 
derstanding, confusion  on  hers ! 

Is  the  preacher  then  an  enemy  to  music  ? 
Much  the  reverse.  Where  there  is  a  real  genius 
for  it,  improved  by  art,  and  regulated  by  sentiment, 
nothing  surely  can  be  more  charming  or  affect- 
ing. Its  importance  in  the  ancient  Jewish  worship 
is  well  known.  Of  its  beauty  and  usefulness  in  our 
churches,  when  conducted  in  a  manner  suitable 
to  its  sacred  purpose,  and  not  prostituted  to 
levity,  or  perverted  by  ostentation,  I  am  not  in- 
sensible its  influence  in  all  ages  and  nations 
stands  universally  confessed.  It  is  founded  in- 
deed in  some  of  the  strongest  perseptions  of  na- 
ture, wherever  she  has  seen  fit  to  confer  a  lively 
sensibility  to  the  melody  of  sounds. 

JBut  how  much  is  it  to  be  regretted,  that  this 
wonderful  charm  of  melody  properly  so  called, 
together  with  the  whole  merit  of  expression, 
should  be  sacrificed,  as  we  frequently  find,  to  the 
proud  but  poor  affectation  of  mere  trick  and  exe- 
cution ;  that,  instead  of  rendering  the  various 
combinations  of  sounds  a  powerful  instrument  of 
touching  i he  hi  art,  exciting  agreeable  emotions, 
or  .allaying  uneasy  sensations,  as  in  (he  days  of 


#2  THE  POLAH    STAR. 

old,  it  should  be  generally  degraded  into  an  idle 
amusement,  devoid  of  dignity,  devoid  of  meaning, 
absolutely  devoid  of  any  one  ingredient  that  can 
inspire  delightful  ideas,  or  engage  unaffected  ap- 
plause !  What  lover  of  this  enchanting  art  but 
must  lament,  that  the  most  insipid  song  which 
can  disgrace  it,  is  no  sooner  heard  in  places  of 
public  entertainment,  than  every  young  lady  who 
has  learnt  the  common  notes,  is  immediately 
taught  to  repeat  it  in  a  manner  still  more  insipid  i 
while  the  most  sublime  and  interesting  composi- 
tions, where  simplicity  and  greatness  unite,  are 
seldom  or  never  thought  of  in  her  case  ;  as  if  the 
female  mind  were  incapable  of  relishing  any 
thing  grave,  pathetic  or  exalted  ! 

!Let  me  here  call  on  every  musical  spirit  of 
your  sex,  to  assert  the  rjghts  of  good  sense  ;  and 
to  insist  that  those,  who  are  entrusted  with  this 
branch  of  their  education,  shall  not  fail  to  intro- 
duce them,  as  early  as  possible,  into  an  acquain- 
tance with  whatever  is  most  beautiful  and  noble 
in  the  article  of  melody.  The  more  thorough 
knowledge  of  harmony  may  come  afterwards,  if 
you  are  ambitious  of  advancing  so  far.  In  the 
mean  time,  you  will  have  the  satisfaction  of 
pleasing  the  best  judges,  and  of  entertaining 
yourselves  with  such  pieces  as,  while  the  words 
to  which  they  are  set  convey  no  sentiments  but 
what  are  elevated  or  virtuous  shall  serve  U  re* 


THE    POL4T*    S 

fine  and  enliven  your  thoughts,  to  raise  your 
spirits  iuto  joy,  or  compose  them  into  sweetness, 
and  on  chosen  occasions,  by  the  diviner  strains  of 
solemn  music,  to  lift  your  hearts  to  heaven, 
prove  a  kind  of  prelude  to  the  airs  of  paradise, 
And  prepare  you  for  joining  the  choir  of  angels*,. 


84  THE   POLAB   STAR. 


A 

MEMOIR 

OF    THE 

LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  THE 
EEV.    WILLIAM 


THE  worthy  author  of  the  following  Essay  8  9 
wa?-  desee  »ded  from  pious  and  respectable  pa- 
rents in  'the  town  of  Perth,  who  spared  neither 
pai  is  «or  expense  to  give  him  a  truly  Christian 
and  liberal  education.  To  this  they  were  great- 
ly encouraged  by  the  early  attachment  which  he 
himself  shewed,  both  to  piety  and  learning. 

His  constitution  of  body  was  rather  delicate 
and  weakly  ;  (hough  in  common  he  was  toler- 
ably healthy  ;  but  his  intellectual  powers  were 
aound  and  strong.  —  He  had  a  penetrating  and 
comprehensive  mind  ;  a  fine  perception  ;  and  tin 
elegant  t*ste.  These  happy  talents  were  attend- 
ed with  solidity  of  judgment,  and  a  sense  of  the 
truly  beautiful  and  sublime,  peculiar  to  himself; 
and  stiU  farther  heightened,  by  an  imagmation 
and  invention  equally  lively,  and  a  memory  mi- 
commonly  capacious  and  retentive. 


TUB   POI.ATt    STAR.  85 

To  cultivate  and  improve  these  admirable 
natural  endowments,  he  employed  the  most  as- 
siduous cure,  and  unwearied  industry.  By  Lis 
diligent  study  of  the  Roman  and  Greek  classics; 
of  logic  and  philosophy;  of  (he  best  English 
poets  and  historians :  and,  above  all,  the  scrip- 
tures of  truth,  in  their  originals,  with  the  most 
judicious  and  evangelical  books  of  our  own  and 
foreign  divines;  he  collected  a  large  stock  of  the 
best  ideas,  and  enriched  his  mind  with  a  variety 
.of  select  knowledge,  arid  suitable  literature. 

His  studies  in  divinity  were  assisted  for  some 
years  by  the  advk-e  of  the  late  celebrated  Mr. 
Ebe.nezer  Erskine  of  Stirling  ;  and  finished  un- 
der the  tuition  of  the  Hev.  James  Fisher  of 
Glasgow. 

He  was  in  1753  licensed  to  preaeb  the  gospel 
by  the  associate  presbytery  of  Dun  term  line  ;  audf 
in  the  beginning  of  the  year  175*,  he  was  ordain- 
ed, by  the  same  presbytery,  minister  ol  the  as- 
sociate congregation  in  the  town  of  Dundee. 

Having  in  a  solemn  and  public  manner,  devot- 
ed himself  to  the  more  immediate  service  of  the 
blessed  Jesus,  in  the  ministration  of  bis  gospel, 
and  had  the  charge  6f  a  particulaj  flock  com- 
mitted to  him  ;  he  was  earnestly  de-sir  out*  to 
have  them  grounded  in  the  principles,  and  actu- 
at  M!  by  the  true  spirit  of  Christ's  gospel."-  En- 
tirely satisfied,  that  the  scriptural  plan  of  re- 


S6  THE   POLAR   STAK, 

demption,  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  is  divinely 
calculated  to  draw  men's  affections  from  iniquity, 
attach  them  to  the  blessed  God;  to  sweeten 
their  tempers,  and  form  them  to  true  happiness; 
it  was  his  dajly  endeavour,  by  the  most  easy  and 
engaging  methods  of  instruction,  to  fill  their 
minds  with  the  knowledge  of  these  heavenly 
doctrines,  lie  longed  particularly  to  have  a 
lively  sense  of  Ged  Almighty's  goodness,  mani- 
fested in  freely  offering  pardon  and  peace  to  re- 
bellious sinners  in  the  gospel,  impressed  on  their 
souls ;  because  from  this  source,  and  the  influ- 
ences of  the  sanctifying  spirit,  he  was  persuaded, 
that  all  the  noble  qualities,  the  amiable  graces, 
and  the  important  duties,  which  constitute  the 
dignity  or  the  happiness  of  our  nature,  could 
only  be  derived. 

Far  from  addressing  his  hearers  in  that  flat- 
tering and  dangerous  strain,  which  supposes 
the  powers  of  the  human  mind  to  be  as  per- 
fect as  ever ;  or  but  vitiated  in  a  small  de- 
gree ;  or,  that  the  soul  of  man  is  possessed  of 
such  principles  of  virtue,  as  need  only  to  be  rous- 
ed into  action:  he  was  solicitously  concerned  to 
have  them  thoroughly  <  onvit  ced,  that  they  were 
ignorant,  guilty,  impotent  creatures.  That  from 
such  convictions  they  might  perceive  their  in- 
dispensible  need  of  a  saviour  ;  of  a  saviour  in  all 
his  mediatorial  offices ;  as  a  prophet  lo  instruct 


THE   POIAR   STAR.  £7 

them,  and,  by  his  word  and  spirit,  make  them 
wise  unto  salvation ;  as  a  priest  to  make  an  a- 
tonement  and  expiation  for  their  sins,  and  make 
their  persons  acceptable  to  that  awful  majesty, 
who  dwelleth  in  light  inaccessable  ;  as  a  king  to 
subdue  their  iniquities,  to  write  his  laws  in  their 
hearts,  make  them  partakers  of  a  divine  nature, 
and  enable  them  to  deny  ungodliness  and  world- 
ly  lusts,  and  to  live  soberly,  righteously  and 
godly  in  this  present  world.  Tit.  ii,  12. 

In  fine,  the  point  he  chiefly  laboured,  was,  to 
beget  in  his  people's  minds  a  deep,  and  abiding 
sense,  that  God  was  their  chief  good  ;  their  on- 
ly sufficient  happiness  and  portion  :  that  the 
blessed  Jesus  was  the  foundation  of  their  par- 
don, acceptance,  and  salvation  :  that  all  their 
dependance,  for  acquiring  the  beauties  of  holi- 
ness, and  tasting  the  consolations  and  pleasures 
of  a  religious  life,  was  to  be  placed  in  the  ho!y 
ghost,  the  comforter;  whose  office  is  to  take  the 
things  of  Christ,  and  show  them  to  sinful  men, 
John  xvi.  14;  and  to  gire  them  to  know  things 
that  are  freely  gwento  them  of  God,  ±.  Cor.  ii.  J2. 

Our  author's  talent  of  preaching  was  much 
admired.  The  propositions  he  insisted  on  were 
few  ;  but  always  of  very  weighty  and  edifying 
import,  and  naturally  resulting  from  the  passage 
of  sacred  writ  under  immediate  consideration* 
His  explanations  were  clear  and  accurate ;  his 


38  THE  POLAR   STAB. 

proofs  plain  and  decisive;  his  illustrations  beau- 
tiful and  entertaining;  his  applications  close  and 
searching.  All  the  heads  of  the  discourse  re- 
markably distinct,  yet  connected  in  such  regular 
order,  and  in  such  pleasing  succession,  as  gave 
his  instructions  the  greatest  advantage :  and 
every  part  contributed  to  the  strength  and  beau- 
ty of  the  whole. 

And  indeed  such  was  the  depth  of  his  thoughts; 
such  the  propriety  of  his  wrords ;  and  such  the 
variety,  force  and  fire  of  his  style  ;  so  remarka- 
ble was  the  justness  and  solidity  of  his  reasoning, 
and  so  judicious  the  change  of  his  method;  that 
notwithstanding  he  invariably  pursued  the  ssme 
end;  yet  proceeding  by  different  paths,  and  vary- 
ing his  address,  according  as  he  meant  to  alai y-*a, 
to  convince,  or  comfort;  lie  was  so  far  from 
growing  tedious,  that  he  never  -failsd  to  please 
as  well  as  to  improve  his  audience. 

In  imitation  of  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, that  most  amiable  and  accomplished 
preacher,  he  was  peculiarly  careful  to  cultivate 
a  spirit  of  zeal  and  devotion  in  all  his  discourses. 
Accordingly  he  was  fervent  in  spirit,  as  well  as 
cogent  in  argument.  When  he  argued,  convic- 
tion flashed  ;  when  he  exhorted,  pathos  glowed. 
And  by  distributing  to  each  of  his  audience  a 
portion  suitable  to  their  several  spates,  hr  en- 
deavoured rightly  to  divide  the  word  of  truth. 


THE   POL1R   STill.  §9 

The  same  zeal  and  fervor  which  influenced 
and  animated  his  puhlie  addresses  from  the  pul- 
pit, appeared  abo  in  the  discharge  of  the  mu?h 
neglected  duties  of  catechising;  teaching  from 
house  to  house;  and  visiting  the  sick;  as  well 
us  in  the  administration  of  the  holy  sacraments. 

In  the  most  unaffected  devotion  towards  God* 
and  in  a  diffusive  love  to  all  men  ;  in  modesty, 
humility,  and  candour;  in  a  gravity  of  deport- 
ment, tempered  with  becoming  cheerfulness;  in 
purity  of  manners,,  and  integrity  of  conduct,  Mr. 
M*Ewen  was  a  pattern  to  all  around  him.  His 
hearers  had  abundant  reason  afforded  them  to 
believe  that  he  lived  above  this  sordid  world, 
even  while  he  was  in  it :  that  he  was  no  lover 
of  filthy  lucre  ;  no  hunter  of  carnal  pleasures  ; 
but  that  his  hopes,  and  all  his  views  of  happiness, 
were  hid  with  Christ  in  God  :  that  he  directed 
all  his  aims  to  the  glory  of  God  ;  and  consider- 
ed the  honour  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  final  cause 
of  his  existanee  ;  that  he  carried  on  no  base  and 
sinister  design  ;  that  he  had  no  separate  interest 
from  the  glory  of  his  divine  master,  and  the  wel- 
fare of  his  people  ;  but  that  the  whole  desire  and 
delight  of  his  soul,  was  to.  set  forward  their  sal- 
vation ;  that  by  their  being  made  meet  to  be  par- 
takers of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light, 
his  exalted  Lord  might,  see  of  the  travail  of  his 
soul,  and  be  satisfied. 


THE    TOIAR   STAK. 

On  the  29th  December  1761,  he  came  from 
Dundee  to  Edinburgh  ;  and,  on  Sabbath  follow- 
ing, preached  (his  last  sermon)  in  Bristo  meet- 
ing, from  Isa.  Ixiii.  4.  For  the  day  of  Tcngeance 
is  in  mine  heart,  and  the  year  of  my  redeemed  is 
eome. — On  the  Monday  evening,  he  was  married 
at  Dalkeith,  to  the  oldest  daughter  of  Mr.  John 
Wardlaw,  late  merchant  of  the  same  place.  In 
this  important  period  of  his  life,  when  a  variety 
of  temporary  prospects  ingross  the  attention  of 
the  most  part  of  mankind,  it  was  observed,  that, 
in  his  social  intereoiu'se  with  his  friends,  he  dis- 
covered a  strong  inclination  to  fix  the  conversa- 
tion to  that  awful,  yet  delightful  subject,  the 
eternal  wo  Id,  into  which  all  must  soon  enter* 
Like  one  established  iii  the  faith,  he  seemed  dai- 
ly to  be  looking  for  and  hastening  to  the  coming 
of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

On  Wednesday  afternoon,  attended  by  his 
friends,  he  went  to  Lcith,  in  his  way  home  to 
Dundee ;  and  that  same  night  he  was  suddenly 
taken  ill*  owing  as  is  supposed,  to  the  cold  and 
^vet  he  Jhad  suffered  in  his  crossing  the  Frith  the 
preceeding  week.  His  disorder  soon  issued  in  a 
violent  fever,  which  rendered  him  unfit  for  any 
conversation,  and  on  Wednesday  night  the  13th 
of  January  1762,  put  an  end  to  all  his  labours,  in 
the  28th  year  of  his  age,  and  the  7th  of  his  min- 
istry. Cut  down  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  public 


THE    P0LAU   STAR.  91 

usefulness,  his  death  was  universally  lamented 
as  a  severe  and  afflicting  loss  to  his  friends,  liis 
congregation,  and  the  church  of  God.  His  body 
\vas  interred  in  the  church  yard  of  Dalkeith. 

In  December  1758,  he  published  a  sermon 
delivered  at  the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  Alexan- 
der Dick,  in  Aberdeen,  entitled,  The  great  mat- 
ter and  end  of  gospel  preaching,  from  2  Cor.  iv, 
5.  This  discourse  was  reprinted  in  1764,  and  has 
been  much  esteemed  by  the  best  judges,  on  ac- 
count of  the  clear  evangelical  strain  of  doctrine, 
together  with  the  nervous  and  pathetic  manner 
of  address,  which  runs  through  the  whole  of  it. — 
It  has  now  undergone  live  impressions. 

In  1763,  his  meditations  on  the  types  and 
figures  of  the,Old  Testament  were  published  in  a 
neat  volume,  12  mo. — The  favourable  reception 
which  this  piece  met  with  from  the  public, 
shews,  in  a  much  stronger  light,  the  distinguish- 
ing excellency  of  it,  than  any  thing  else  that 
could  be  advanced.  Five  editions  of  this  work 
Laving  been  already  sold,  and  the  demand  for  it 
still  continues. 

With  regard  to  the  following  sheets,  they  con- 
tain the  substance  of  what  the  author  originally 
composed  and  delivered  in  the  pulpet,  in  the 
form  of  sermons,  tlis  heart,  his  time,  his  study, 
were  entirely  devoted  to  the  duties  of  his  pro- 
fession. To  contract  the  force  and  spirit  of  a 

H 


92  THE   FOLiR   STAR, 

subject  into  a  small  compass,  and  to  exhibit  it  to 
llie  mind  in  one  clear  ahd  easy  view,  was  a  study 
he  was  remarkably  fond  of.  And  though  he 
prepared  his  discourses  for  the  pulpit  with  great 
diligence  and  accuracy,  he  frequently  employed" 
a  leisure  moment  in  digesting  them,  after  they 
had  been  preached,  into  the  form  of  little  es- 


From  his  collection  of  manuscripts  in  this 
kind,  th«  following  essays  were  selected.  Each 
of  them  was  committed'  to  paper  at  one  sitting* 
without  any  design  of  publishing  them ;  and 
none  of  them  appear  to  have  been  written  over 
again,  or  revised  by  the  author.  It  should  not 
then  be  thought  strange,  if,  in  some  things,  they 
will  not  bear  a  critical  examen  with  regard  to 
the  minutioR  of  graceful  composition.  More 
important  matters  engaged  Mr.  M'Ewen's  atten- 
tion ;  nor  \vas  lame,  as  a  writer,  by  any  means 
his  aim. 

But  it  is  hoped  the  reader,  who  peruses  them 
with  the  humble  ehild  like  spirit  of  a  Christian, 
and  seeks  religious  advantage  in  all  he  reads, 
will  not  lose  his  labour.  He  will  find  a  just  and 
lively  representation  of  true  Christianity,  in  a 
variety  of  its  most  important  articles,  and  dis- 
tinguishing peculiar! ties,  enforced  by  a  very 
warm  and  pathetic  mode  of  expression,  happily 
conspiring  at  once  to  enlighten  the  understand- 


TtfE.POLAB    STAR,  S& 

ing  and  persuade  the  heart.  Apparent  repeti- 
tions will  douhtless  sometimes  occur  ;  but  this 
will  be  chiefly  in  those  things  which  lie  at  the 
root  of  all  vital  religion,  and  evidently  lay  very 
near  the  author's  heart ;  which  is  very  different 
from  that  thin  starving  common-place  work  that 
flows  from  a  barren  head,  or  unfeeling  hear!. 
As  these  essays  were  the  first  effusion  of  thought, 
they  ought  to  be  considered  rather  as  the  pro- 
duction of  the  heart,  than  the  head,  which,  it  is 
hoped,  will  be  no  disagreeable  recommendation 
of  them  to  the  sober  Christian. — From  a  few 
cursory  specimens,  the  reader  could  form  no  ad- 
equate idea  of  a  work  replete  with  such  a  vast 
variety  of  important  subjects  ;  and,  therefore,  I 
have  only  to  add,  that  as  no  order  has  been  ob- 
served in  writing  these  sheets,  I  have  not  at- 
tempted to  methodise  their  contents.,  »r  combine 
them  into  a  regular  series* 


THE   POLAR    STAI& 


SELECT  ESSAYS, 


OX   THE    GREAT   EV1I,   OF  SIN. 

O  SIN,  then  only  evil  in  which  there  is  no 
good,  thou  superfluity  of  naughtiness,  thou  quin- 
tessence of  what  is  odious  and  execrable,  whose 
nature  is  entirely  opposite  to  that  of  God,  and 
the  reverse  of  his  holy  law,  who  elaSmest  the 
ilevil  for  thy  sire,  while  death,  and  hell,  and 
misery,  confess  thee  for  their  only  parent  !  how 
Iiast  thou  troubled  all  the  creation  !  upon  what 
creatures  hast  thou  not  transmitted  thy  baleful 
Influence ! 

Ye  angels  of  darkness,  once  the  angels  of  light, 
how  are  ye  fallen  !  how  changed  !  how  is  your  fine 
gold  become  dim !  what  plucked  you  from  your  star- 
vy  mansions  where  you  did  walk  with  God,  high 
«n  salvation,  in  the  climes  of  bliss  !  you  were  the 
nngels  that  sinned;  therefore  you  could  not 
keep  your  first  and  happy  state,  but  were  driven 
out  from  God,  flung  from  eternal  splendours  to 
everlasting  horrors.  "  The  crown  is  fallen 
from  your  head  ;  wo  unto  us,  for  you  have  sin- 
ned." 


THE   POtAB     STAR.  $5 

Ye  sons  of  men,  once  were  you  blessed  with 
innocence  and  peace,  in  the  morning  of  your  ex- 
istanee,  when  eur  grand  parents  first  lifted  to 
the  heavens  their  wondering  eyes,  and  reposed 
themselves  in  the  blissful  bowers  of  paradise, 
that  happy  garden,  planted  by  the  Lord  and  fit- 
ted out  for  their  reception.  The  understanding 
was  bright  as  the  light.  The  will,  all  pure  and 
holy,  reigned  queen  of  the  affections,  and  swayed 
them  with  a  golden  sceptre.  The  memory  was 
faithful  to  his  trust,  being  replenished  only  with 
good  things.  And,  O  how  peaceful  was  the  con- 
science !  how  serene  !  nothing  unholy  was  hatch- 
ed in  his  heart,  or  uttered  by  the  lips,  or  mani- 
fested by  the  actions. — Disease  had  not  invaded 
our  body ;  death  would  not  have  dissolved  our 
frame.  We  should  have  been  strangers  to  the 
miseries  of  life,  and  to  the  dreary  mansions  of 
the  grave.  But  sin,  that  cursed  monster,  sin 
liath  quenched  our  intellectual  light ;  hath  in- 
thralled  the  will  to  vile  unruly  passions ;  hath 
vitiated  the  memory,  tenacious  now  of  evil ;  hath 
banished  true  peace  from  the  conscience.  Some 
are  harrassed  with  direful  apprehensions,  aud 
consumed  awny  with  fearful  terrors.  What 
multitudes  are  stretched  on  the  bed  of  pain  !  it 
was  sin  which  bade  the  head  ache,  fevers  to 
revel  through  our  veins,  convulsions  shake  th§ 
human  frames,  and  agues  agitate  our  bodies. 


$6  THE   POIAR   STAR. 

See  there,  in  that  house  of  mourning,  the  pat& 
and  ghastly  corpse  extended  on  the  bed.  De- 
scend into  the  silent  grave,  and  view  the  putri- 
fving  flesh,  and  the  mouldering  bones.  Ah  1 
where  are  \ve!  to  what  are  we  reduced  ?  Is  this 
that  heaven  laboured  form,  which  wore  the  di- 
vine resemblam  e  ?  Yes,  yes  ;  «  sin  entered  into 
the  world,  and  death  by  sin  ;  and  so  death  pas- 
sed upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned." 

But  can  we  venture  lower  still  in  our  medita- 
tions, into  those  dismal  regions,  where  God's 
mercies  are  clean  gone,  and  where  he  will  be 
favourable  no  more  ?  Hear  how  they  shriek  and 
roar;  see  how  they  toss  in  the  lake  that  burn- 
eth  with  fire  and  brimstone  ! — Unhappy  beings, 
what  brought  you  to  that  place  of  torment? 
"  We  are  filled  with  the  fruit  of  our  own  ways, 
and  are  reaping  the  wages  of  sin."  Yes  ;  it  was 
sin  which  laid  the  foundation  stone  of  your  prison, 
and  filled  it  with  these  inexhausted  treasures  of 
wrath  and  indignation. 

Not  in  the  rational  creation  only  we  discern 
the  fatal  evils  of  this  accursed  thing.  «  The 
whole  creation  groaneth  and  travailleth  in  pain 
together  until  now."  Once  it  died  of  a  dropsy 
of  waters,  in  the  days  of  Noah  ;  and  shortly  will 
expire  in  a  fever  of  flames,  when  «*  the  heavens 
shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements 
Shall  melt  with  fervent  heaU"  Even  now  the 


THE   POLAR    STAB.  $¥ 

husbandman,  conscious  of  the  sickliness  of  na- 
ture, acts  like  physician  to  the  earth.  Sem«- 
tiraes  he  opens  her  veins  with  a  plough,  and 
covers  with  soil,  as  with  a  strengthening  plaister; 
sometimes  lays  her  asleep,  by  suffering  her  to  lie 
fallow  for  a  time. — Without  these  necessary 
precautions,  she  would  refuse  to  yield  her  in- 
crease, and  cleanness  of  teeth  would  be  in  all  our 
borders. 

Is  it  a  small  thing  for  sin  thus  to  affect  the 
whole  creation  ?  The  garden  of  Gethsemane 
knows,  and  Calvary  can  tell,  how  sin  hath  affect- 
ed even  the  great  Creator.  Bread  of  life,  why 
>vast  thou  hungry  ?  Fountain  of  life,  why  wast 
thou  thirsty?  Why  wast  thou  a  man  of  stir- 
rows,  O  thoa  consolation  of  Israel  ?  Thou  glory 
of  the  human  race,  wherefore  wast  thou  a  re- 
proach of  men,  and  despised  of  the  people  ?  Thy 
yis*age  was  more  marred  than  any  man,  and 
thy  form  than  the  sons  of  men.  Sin  nailed  thee 
to  the  cross  ;  sin  stabbed  thee  to  the  heart ;  sin, 
like  a  thick  impenetrable  cloud,  eclipsed  thy 
father's  countenance  to  thy  disconsolate  soul  ; 
sin  laid  thee  in  a  grave,  O  thou  resurrection  and 
the  life! 

Who  would  have  believed,  that  the  enemy 
would  have  entered  within  the  gates  of  the 
Heavenly  Jerusalem,  pulled  angels  from  their 
thrones,  and  brought  even  God  himself  from  his 


$8  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

high  habitation,  from  excellent  glory,  from  in- 
effable jo.ys,  to  poverty  and  reproach,  to  sorrow 
and  tribulation,  and  to  the  most  inglorious  death  ! 
O  heavy  burden  !  under  whose  weight  such 
multitudes  of  creatures  groan,  which  made  the 
mighty  God,  clothed  with  our  flesh,  to  sweat 
great  drops  of  blood,  though  sinners  walk  lightly 
on  beneath  the  mighty  load.  O  dreadful  plague ! 
O  formidable  sickness  !  not  to  he  chased  away 
by  a  less  costly  medicine  than  the  most  precious 
blood  of  Christ,  by  whose  stripes  we  are  healed. 
O  deadly  poison  !  even  when  presented  in  a  gold- 
en cup,  and  sweet  unto  the  taste,  it  bitetli  like  a 
serpent,  and  stingeth  like  an  adder,  and  never 
fails  to  prove  bitterness  in  the  latter  end. — Nor 
can  it  be  expelled  by  any  other  way  than  lifting 
up  the  son  of  man,  as  Moses  lifted  up  the  ser- 
pent in  the  wilderness.  O  mighty  debt,  whose 
payments  could  impoverish  him,  whose  is  the 
silver  and  the  gold  ;  who,  "  though  he  was  rich, 
yet  for  our  sakes  became  poor,  that  we  through 
his  poverty  might  be  made  rich  I"  O  ugly 
stain  !  O  inveterate  pollution !  not  to  be  washed 
away  by  all  *he  rivers  that  run  into  the  sea. 
In  vain  we  take  unto  us  nitre  and  much  soap ; 
in  vain  we  use  our  most  vigorous  endeavours  to 
purge  away  our  blot.  Sooner  might  the  Ethio- 
pean  change  his  skin,  and  the  leopard  his  spots. 
The  only  fuller  that  is  equal  to  this  mighty 


TUB   POLAR   STAR,  99 

work,  is  lie  who  purges  the  conscience  from 
dead  works,  to  serve  the  living  God. — The  blood 
of  the  lamb  is  the  only  purgatory  that  makes 
you  \vhiter  than  the  snow. 

When,  O  when,  shall  I  hate  thee  with  a  per- 
fect hatred,  thou  worse  than  death  ?  When 
shall  I  be  afraid  of  thee  alone,  and  be  ashamed 
of  thee  alone,  ?  0  thing  exceeding  sinful !  When 
shall  I  be  delivered  from  thy  abhorred  dominion  ? 
O  when  shall  thy  destructions  have  a  perpetual 
end? 


On  man's  extreme  misery  by  sin. 

WHO  can  refrain  from  tears,  whose  eye  of 
reason  hath  snatched  but  a  cursory  glance  of 
mankind's  numerous  woes  ?  Who  but  he  whose 
heart  is  made  of  stone,  and  is  lost  to  every  im- 
pression of  benevolence  ?  As  the  dancing  spark 
ilies  upward,  so  man  is  born  unto  trouble.  Un- 
happy creatures,  that  kept  not  your  primeval 
state  !  Full  early  you  revolted  from  your  crea- 
tor God,  in  whose  smile  alone  your  happiness 
might  dwell.  The  sparkling  crown  of  inno- 
cence is  fallen  from  your  head.  Hence  all  these 
fatal  evils  of  your  race.  Ah  me  !  what  ghastly 
spectres  are  the^e  '  See  moon  sfru  k  mad  'ess 
replenishing  the  melancholy  bedlam,  and  tortur- 


100  THE   J?01AK   STAR. 

ing  despair,  a  terror  to  herself,  and  all  around 
her.  See  there  oppression  with  iron  hand,  and 
heart  of  steel ;  poverty  with  her  liollow  eyes,  her 
tattered  garmants,  and  sordid  habitation  ;  and 
all  the  family  of  pain,  who  tear  the  pillow  from 
beneath  their  head,  while  sleep  affrighted  flies 
from  our  eye-lids. — Shall  I  mention  in  the  next 
place,  drudgery  with  her  grievous  looks,  toiling 
at  the  oar,  or  stooping  under  the  burden  ?  Alas ! 
with  what  laborious  efforts  do  mortals  spend 
their  vitals,  to  gain  a  wretched  sustenance  for 
themselves  and  their  tender  offspring,  to  be  de- 
fended from  the  gnawings  of  hunger,  and  the 
power  of  chilling  cold  ? 

What  creatures  are  not  armed  against  thee,  O 
man,  who  all  espouse  their  maker's  quarrel  ? 
There  are,  whom  the  angels  of  darkness  harass 
with  dreadful  temptations,  and  still  more  dread- 
ful possessions. — -The  angels  of  light  loathe  and 
detest  such  polluted  beings,  and  frequently  have 
been  the  executioners  of  direful  \engeance.  I 
might  relate  the  numerous  ills  to  which  we  are 
exposed  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  air,  the 
beasts  of  the  earth,  and  even  the  fishes  of  the 
sea, — How  hateful  to  men  the  holiest  race  of 
scaly  serpents,  hissing  adders,  ravenous  lions, 
prowling  wolves,  hideous  and  weeping  erocka- 
diles  ?  And  even  the  puny  race  of  locusts  and 


THE   POLAR   STAR.  101 

caterpillars  have    scourged  guilty  nations   for; 
crimes. 

How  frequently  have  lire  and  water,  these  ser- 
viceable elements,  made  horrid  insurrections, 
disastrous  to  the  human  race  ?  Populous  cities, 
with  guilde  palaces  and  lofty  temples,  have 
smoked  fiery  ruins  ;  and,  in  old  time,  the  dwil- 
lings  of  sinful  men  were  swept  awa^  by  a  watery 
inundation.— -In  vain  the  shrieking  wretches 
betook  themselves  for  safety  to  the  lofty  battle- 
ments of  houses,  the  tops  of  highest  trees,  or 
even  the  summits  of  the  aerial  mountains* 
Hear  how  the  earth  groans  under  the  burden  of 
thy  sins!  Here  she  spreads  a  barren  wilder- 
ness, and  idle  desert  ;  there  lifts  a  frightful 
ridge  of  rocks,  whence  in  many  places  we  look 
down  with  giddy  horror.  In  some  countries  she 
belches  fire  and  smoke  from  dreadful  volcanoes, 
tremendous  indeed  to  all  who  hear,  but  ranch 
more  terrible  to  those  who  live  in  the  neighbour- 
ing city,  or  in  the  villages  of  the  circum  jacent 
plain.  Be  it  so  that  these  awful  phenomena  of 
nature*  and  others  of  the  like  threatening  as- 
pect, bespeak  not  this  our  globe  to  be  the  habi- 
tation of  an  accursed  race ;  what  shall  we  say  to 
useless  choking  weeds,  and  poisonous  plants,  of 
which  she  is  a  willing  parent,  whilst  she  refuses 
to  produce  the  foodful  grain,  unless  when  much 
fjarressed  and  importuned  ?  How  frequently  she 


102  THE.  POLAR   STAR. 

disappoints  our  fond  hopes,  and  baulks  our  ex- 
pectations ! 

When  she  refuses  to  yield  her  increase,  then 
it  is  that  we  have  cleanness  of  teeth  in  all  our 
borders,  while  pale  famine  walks  abroad  with 
her  evil  arrows.  The  staff  of  bread  is  broken, 
and  feble  man  totters,  and  falls,  and  dies. — At 
other  times  she  expands  her  jaws,  and  swallows 
up  alive  vast  multitudes  of  rational  beings. 
Earthquake !  men  tremble  when  thou  art  but 
named!  Who  can  think  of  thee  without  horror? 
O  what  dire  consternation  in  that  dreadful  mo- 
ment ! — Whither,  ah!  whither  can  we  fly  from 
the  doleful  calamity  ?  Avert  it,  heaven.  Exe- 
cute not  thy  threatening  vengeance  upon  these 
guilty  lands,  and  our  proud  metropolis.  If  thou 
hast  a  mind  to  punish  us,  O  visit  with  some 
milder  rod,  some  gentler  minister  of  wrath. 

Not  the  earth  alone,  on  which  we  tread,  but 
the  air  in  which,  we  live,  and  move,  and  have 
our  being,  proves  dreadful  to  our  wretched  race. 
Sometimes  she  summoDS  her  stormy  winds,  her 
roaring  tempests,  and  bids  them  shake  the  walls 
of  stone,  ar*d  dash  the  wall-built  vessel  on  the 
rock.  Tain  is  the  help  of  tough  cables  and 
tenacious  anchors.  The  mighty  waters  at  once 
receive  the  valuable  cargo,  and  the  despairing 
mariners.  How  often  is  she  infected  with  the 
wide-wasting  pestilence?  Then  death's  shaft* 


THE    POLAR   STAR.  103 

fiy  thick,  and  the  hungry  grave  rejoices  at  the 
uncommon  fare. — Yet,  ugly  monster !  she  never 
says,  it  is  enough. — But,  with  no  greater  calami- 
ty can  you  be  visitetl,  ye  sons  of  men,  than  those 
which  claim  your  own  species  for  their  original. 
Fell  are  the  monsters  of  the  Lybian  deserts!  but 
not  to  be  compared  with  the  abhorred  produc- 
tions of  the  human  heart.  Hence  matchless 
killing  envy,  iilthy  slander;  hence  persecution 
with  torturing  engines,  war  with  her  odious  din, 
and  bloody  garments.  How  can  you  have  peace 
among  yourselves,  when  warring  with  your 
God  ? 

Nor  is  there  any  period  of  life  wherein  we  are 
exempted  from  wo.  Not  even  the  smiling  infant 
is  secured  against  the  most  fatal  disasters.  The 
miseries  of  childhood  are  apparent.  Affliction 
spares  not  the  blooming  youth,  nor  reverences 
the  venerable  old  man.  Even  age  itself,  what 
is  it  ?  An  incurable  distemper,  always  termi- 
nating in  death.  See  how  the  countenance  is 
shriveled  up  with  wrinkles,  the  shoulders  stoop, 
the  hands  tremble,  the  strong  men  bow  them- 
selves, and  they  that  look  out  of  the  windows  are 
darkened ! 

Neither  can  any  station  or  condition  rescue 

from  these  incumbent  miseries.      The  rich,  the 

honourable,  and  they  who  swim  in  tides  of  pleas* 

ure,  can  bear  witness.    Why  else  would  Ahab 

i 


THE   POIAH    STAR. 

sicken  for  Nabotlrs  vineyard,  and  Haman  lay  so  N 
sore  to  heart  the  refractory  behavior  of  Mcrde- 
cai  ?  If  treasured  riches,  if  sensual  delights* 
added  even  to  knowledge  and  wisdom,  could 
satisfy  the  heart,  then  might  tliou,  Solomon,  en- 
joyed a  heaven  upon  earth,  nor  complained  of 
Tanity  and  vexation,  nor  that  he  who  encreaseth 
knowledge,  encreaseth  sorrow.  Alas  !  even  our 
greatest  comforts  prove  killing;  and  far  from 
issuing  in  contentment,  we  still  complain  even  in 
large  abundance  of  worldly  delights. 

What  shall  we  say  then  to  the*e  things  ?  Shall 
wretched  mortals  abandon  themselves  to  sullen 
sorrow,  and  hopeless  desparation  ?  Shall  the 
world  be  turned  into  a  Bochim  ?  Is  it  a  place 
where  his  mercies  are  clean  gone,  and  where  he 
will  be  favourable  no  more?  Are  there  not 
many  footsteps  of  the  divine  benignity,  even  in 
this  our  earthly  mansion  ?  Doubtless  there  are  ; 
for  he  hath  not  left  himself  without  a  witness,  that 
goodness  is  essential  to  his  nature  ;  he  bids  the 
earth  teem  with  plenty,  and  the  clouds  drop 
with  vegetable  fatness.  There  are  pleasures  of 
sight,  of  smell,  of  taste,  peculiar  to  the  various 
seasons  of  the  revolving  year.  Many  creatures 
are  yet  subservient  to  our  interest,  and  all  the 
elements  are  made  to  contribute  for  our  welfare. 
Far  be  it  from  high-favoured  men,  to  despise  the 
riches  of  the  Almighty's  goodness*  But,  O  ye 


THE    POLAR   STAB, 

everlasting  joys,  which  the  glorious  gospel  re- 
veals  !  what  thoughtful  being  would  not  he  dis- 
contented with  such  a  world  as  this,  without  the 
consideration  of  you  ?  The  distant  prospect  of 
life  and  immortality  is  able,  and  that  alone,  to 
reconcile  the  heart  to  the  visible  (Economy  of 
God.  Even  great  and  sore  affliction  is  deemed 
but  light  and  vain,  because  it  lasts  but  for  a  mo- 
ment. Eternity  apart,  the  miseries  of  life  would 
swallow  up  the  joys.  But  now  even  these  de- 
vo iirers  are  buried  in  the  capacious  wonib  of 
vast  eternity. 

Blessed  be  thy  condescension,  O  patient  son  of 
God,  who  disdained  not  to  taste  the  bitter  cup 
of  grief ;  grief  not  thy  own,  but  ours.  And 
blessed  be  that  wisdom  to  whose  glorious  contri- 
vance we  are  indebted  for  the  cup  of  consolation 
presented  in  the  gospel,  which  we  may  drink, 
and  remember  our  misery  no  more* — By  vari- 
ous ways  the  sons  of  men  have  tried  to  extricate 
themselves  from  the  lamented  consequents  of 
their  fall.  Games  and  recreations,  arts  arid  sci- 
ences, yea,  many  false  religions  have  been  in- 
vented for  this  end.  Miserable  comforters  are 
they  all  !  Christianity  it  is  thine  alone  to  chase 
our  gloom  of  thought,  and  wipe  away  our  tears  ; 
while  by  thee  we  are  directed  to  dart  our 
thoughts  beyond  this  transitory  world,  this  in- 
considerable speck  of  time,  unto  the  eternal 


1Q6  THE   POLAR  S1FAR. 

scene,  which  shall  commence  when  the  last  (rui%- 
pet  shall  be  sounded  $  we  no  more  repine  at  the 
appearance  of  wo,  nor  think  "  our  light  affliction 
worthy  to  he  compared  with  that  glory  that  is  to 
be  revealed  :  while  we  look  not  at  the  things 
that  are  seen  ;  for  the  things  that  are  seen  arc 
temporal,  but  the  things  that  are  not  seen  are 
.eternal.5* 


On  the  inevitable  misery  of  the  wicfced. 

BUT  there  shall  he  no  reward  to  the  evil 
man. — No  reward,  did  I  say  ?  Nay,  if  God  be 
just,  then  «  he  will  render  indignation  and  wrath, 
•tribulation  and  anguish,  to  every  soul  of  man 
that  doth  evil,  without  respect  pf  persons."  To 
him  beloHgeth  vengeance, — Though  patience 
may  delay,  -though  clemency  may  mitigate, 
Uioush  mercy,  grace,  and  wisdom,  may  transfer 
the  punishment  to  the  person  of  a  surety;  yet 
still  his  wrath  must  be  revealed  against  all  un- 
righteousness and  ungodliness  of  men. 

Doth  not  even  nature  herself  teach  us,  that 
sin  and  punishment  are  most  inviolably  connect- 
ed ?  For  even  barbarians  could  infer,  when  they 
saw  a  viper  fasten  upon  the  hand  of  a  person 
whom  they  knew  not,  after  he  had  escaped  a 
dismal  shipwreck  $  "  Certainly  this  man  was  a 


THE    PCKLAR    STAR.  107 

smirderer;    ftp  vengeance  suffereth  him  not  to 
live."     How  often  are  the  wicked  consumed  with 
fearful  terrors,  when  they  can   be  under  no  ap- 
prehension of  punishment  from  men?     For  they 
know  that  it  is  the  judgment  of  God,  that  they 
who  do  such    things    are    worthy  of    death.55 
Whence  are  we   struck   with  trembling  at  any 
uncommon  appearances  of  nature  ?     If  a  storm 
of  thunder  and  lightning  torments  the  air?      If 
the   sun  labours  in  an  eclipse  ?      If  a  glaring 
comet   waves  his  banner   over  the   nations  ? — 
Whence  the  terror  of  apparitions?     Whence  the 
forebodings  of  misery  after  death  ?     Whence  the 
prevailing  opinion,  even  among  the  ancient  Jews, 
that  death  was  to  be  the  consequence  of  an  ex- 
traordinary appearance  of  the  Deity  ?     Is  it  not 
because  we  are   insolvent  debtors  that  we  dread 
the  face  of  our  injured  creditors  ?     Is  it  not  be- 
cause we  are  traiterous  rebels  we  abhor  the  pre- 
sence of  our  offended    sovereign  ? — Therefore, 
with  Adam,  we  hide  ourselves  from  the  presence 
of  the   Lord.      And  with   the  widow  of  Zare- 
phaih,  we  are  ready  to  thing,  that  whatever  is 
more  than  common,  is  a  messenger  of  the  Lo;dL 
of  hosts  to  slay  us,  and  bring  our  sin  to  remem- 
brance. 

Oft  times  the  guilty  conscience  will  create  un- 
to itself  imaginary  horrors,  and  sinners  are  in 
great  fears,  where  no  fear  is,  while  they  are  apt 


10S  THE    TOLAK    STAR. 

to  say  with  Cairt,  Every  one  that  ineeieth  me,  will 
slay  me,  What  nations  under  heaven  have  not 
attested  the  truth  of  this,  while  they  have  ap- 
peased their  gods  with  bltfody  expiatory  -sacri- 
fices ?  And  (horrid  to  relate  !)  their  altars  have 
reeked  even  with  human  gore  :  the  fruit  of  the 
body  has  been  given  for  the  sin  of  the  soul! 
Whether  the  dreadful  custom  may  be  derived 
from  the  mangled  tradition  of  Abraham  offering 
up  Isaac ;  or,  whether  our  adversary  the  devil 
would,  by  stirring  them  up  to  such  abomina- 
tions, insult  over  the  guilt  of  their  consciences, 
and  blindness  of  their  hearts,  by  aping  the  sacri- 
fice of  Christ,  hereby  intending  to  discredit  the 
glorious  method  of  salvation  :  one  thing  is  cer- 
tain, that  mankind,  degenerate  as  they  were, 
did  really  judge,  that  an  expiation  was  necessary 
to  be  made,  and  that  he  will  ly  no  means  clear 
the  guilty. 

And  however  much  their  foolish  heart  was 
darkened,  as  to  the  manner  of  propitiating  the 
deity,  yet  certainly  the  necessity  of  it  is  one  of 
the  dictates  of  nature.  For,  could  we  suppose, 
that  a  sinning  creature  should  escape  the  righte- 
ous judgment  of  God>  and  feel  no  effects  of  his 
displeasure  j  how  could  it  appear  that  he  were  a 
God  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  iniquity! 
Would  there  not  be  too  much  reason  to  sayy 
"  every  one  that  doeth  evil  is  good  in  the  sight 


THE    POLAR    STAR,  109 

uf  the  Lord,  and  he  delightcth  in  them,  and 
where  is  the  God  of  judgment  ?"  How  could  his 
lordship  and  dominion  over  the  world  be  main- 
tained, should  he  forbear  to  punish  the  violators 
of  his  law?  Is  it  impossible  he  can  be  divested 
of  his  sovereign  rule,  or  that  his  creatures  can 
throw  off  all  mortal  dependence  upon  him  that 
made  them  ?  So  it  is  impossible  but  the  order 
of  punishment  must  succeed,  when  the  order  of 
obedience  is  disturbed  :  anil  they  who  burst  the 
bands  of  the  law,  must  of  necessity  be  bound  iu 
the  chords  of  affliction.  Consider  this,  and  l)c 
afraid,  ye  that  forget  God.  While  a  method  is 
not  fallen  upon  to  appease'incensed  justice,  and 
separate  sin  from  your  souls;  if  God  be  the 
righteous  judge  of  all  the  earth  ;  if  God  be  the 
Lord  of  the  creatures ;  if  God  be  blessed,  (O 
tremble  to  think  it  !)  you  must  be  miserable. 
As  the  fire  devours  the  chaff,  as  the  flame  con- 
sumes the  stubble  $  so  must  you  perish  at  his 
presence. 

But  let  us  hearken  to  the  sacred  oracles  on 
this  interesting  subject.  "  Search  ye  out  of  the 
book  of  the  Lord,  and  see  that  every  disobedi- 
snee  receives  a  just  recompence  of  reward." 
The  flames  of  Sodom,  the  waters  of  Noah,  the 
torments  of  hell,  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  bear 
witness  unto  this.  O  sin,  thou  hast  kindled  a 
iire  that  will  burn  to  the  bottom  of  the  moun- 


110  THE    POLAR    STAB. 

tains!  "Behold,  he  will  come  with  fire,  and 
with  his  chariots,  as  a  whirlwind,  to  render  his 
anger  with  fury,  and  his  rebukes  with  flames  of 
fire  :  for,  by  fire,  and  with  his  sword,  will  the 
Lord  p'ead  with  all  flesh  ;  and  the  slain  of  the 
Lord  shall  he  many."  Nor  can  we  reasonably 
blame  the  bowels  of  the  Deity  because  he  takcth 
vengeance  ;  for,  according  to  Moses,  it  is  a 
branch  of  his  goodness,  that  he  will  by  no  means 
clear  t lie  guilty.  According  to  Joshua,  it  is  be- 
cause he  is  a  holy-  God  that  he  will  not  forgive 
our  transgressions.  According  to  David,  it  is 
because  the  righteous  Lord  loveth  righteousness^ 
that  he  will  rain  upon  the  wicked  snares.  jirey 
and  brimstone,  and  a  burning  tempest,  the  portion 
of  their  cup. 

But,  especially,  had  it  been  an  indifferent  thing 
•with  God  to  punish  or  not  to  punish  the  guilty, 
who  can  pursuade  us  that  he  who  afflicts  not 
willingly  nor  grieves  the  children  of  men*  would 
take  such  pleasure  in  bruising  his  only  begotten 
SON,  whom  he  loved  ? — Was  he  without  necessity. 
ex?>osed  to  such  direful  sufferings  ?  Nay :  for 
God  hath  set  him  forth  lo  be  a  propitiation,  to 
declare — .his  love.  True  :  but  to  declare  also 
Ms  righteousness  in  the  remission  of  sin9  and 
that  he  may  be  just. 

Blessed    be  that  matchless  grace  and  wisd<-nv 
that  has  provided  a  lamb  for  a  burnt  sacrifice  ;-~» 


THE   POiAK   STAB.  Ill 

that  has  found  a  ransom ; — that  has  opened  a 
city  of  refuge  ; — that  has  reconciled  mercy,  and 
truth,  and  righteousness  with  peace.  O  that 
that  gracious  redeemer,  without  whose  kindly 
interposition  we  had  better  heen  crushed  in  the 
very  hud  of  being  might  forever  live  in  our 
hearts,  might  forever  be  esteemed  above  all 
other  beloveds,  might  forever  be  the  reigning 
subject  in  our  thoughts,  both  when  we  wake  and 
when  we  sleep !  "  If  we  forget  thee,  O  blessed 
Jesus,  then  let  our  right  hand  forget  her  cun- 
ning. If  we  do  not  remember  thee,  let  our 
tongues  cleave  to  the  roof  of  our  mouths;  if  we 
prefer  not  thee  above  our  chief  joy ;"  O  !  let  us 
never  drinkf  that  as  water,  which  cost  the  effu- 
sion of  thy  blood  !  Let  us  never  have  that  sweet 
in  our  mouth  which  tendered  to  thy  lips  the  vin- 
egar and  gall !  Let  us  never  rejoice  in  that 
which  made  thee  exceeding  sorrowful !  nor  bless 
ourselves  in  that  which  subjected  thee  to  the 
curse  !  nor  live  in  that  for  which  thou  died ! 


On  Christ's   dying*  in  the  stead  of  sinners,  to 
make  full  satisfaction  for  their  transgressions. 

THAT  Christ  died  for  his  people,  not  merely 
for  their  good,  but  in  their  reoui  and  plsue.  is  a 

* -See.  note  in  page 


THE    POLAR    STAK. 

fundamental  article  of  our  holy  religion,  arid  a 
grand  peculiarity  of  the  gospel  ;  though  regard- 
ed by  many  as  only  a  speeu'ative  point,  and  by 
many  traduced  as  a  senseless  absurdity,  incon- 
sistent with  reason,  and  the  yierfeetions  of  the 
deity.  And  here  I  must  confess,  that  if  we  W«TC 
not  to  attend  to  the  sacred  oracles  as  our  rule  ; 
if  we  were  not  solely  conducted  in  our  researches 
by  the  light  of  nature  and  reason,  our  cause  is 
lost.  For,  though  the  doctrine  itself  is  not  Con- 
trary to  sound  reason,  it  is  the  mistry  of  his  will, 
which  is  hid  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and 
which  would  never  have  entered  into  our 
thoughts,  if  God  had  not  been  pleased  to  reveal 
it.  Let  us  go  to  the  law  and  testimony  ;  and, 
according  to  the  observation  of  a  very  eminent 
divine,  the  death  of  Christ  is  exhibited  in  three 
capital  views;  as  a  price,  a  punishment,  and  as  a 


NOTE. 

*  The  death  of  Christ  includes  not  only  his 
sufferings,  but  Ms  obedience.  The  shedding  of 
Ills  precious  blood  was  at  once  ihe  grand  instance 
of  his  suffering,  and  the  finishing  act  of  his  obe- 
dience. In  this  view  it  is  considered)  and  thus 
it  is  interpreted  by  his  own  ambassador,  who, 
speaking  of  his  divine  master,  says,  "  he  was 
obedient  unto  death,  even  ihe  death  of  the  cross.'* 
Phil,  ii,  8.  Hervey's  Dial.  vol.  II.  p.  *7, 


THE    POLAIt    STAR. 

sacrifice.  And  it  will,  from  every  one  of  these, 
appear,  with  the  brightest  evidence,  that  the 
death  of  Christ  was  a  true  and  proper  satisfac- 
tion in  the  room  of  his  elect  people. 

Let  us  begin  with  it  as  a  price.  Now,  what  is 
a  price  ?  A  price  is  a  valuable  compensation  of 
one  thing  for  another.  A  slave  is  redeemed 
from  captivity,  a  debtor  from  prison,  when  some 
gracious  redeemer  procures  their  liberty,  by 
giving  some  equivalent  to  the  person  by  whom 
they  are  detained.  We  are  debtors  ;  we  cannot 
pay  unto  God  what  we  are  owing.  We  are  cap- 
tives, and  we  cannot  hasten  to  be  loosed.  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  merciful  redeemer,  who  pays  the 
sum  we  were  owing,  and  says  to  the  prisoners 
Go  forth.  Will  we  not  believe  an  apostle 
when  he  tells  us,  ye  are  not  your  own  ;  ye  are 
bought  with  a  priced — Would  you  know  what 
this  price  is  ?  Another  apostle  will  tell  ;  «ye 
are  not  redeemed  with  corruptible  things,  as 
silver  and  gold,  but  with  the  precious  blood  of 
Christ."  Now,  though  it  be  true  that  there  is  a 
redemption  by  power  mentioned  in  the  scripture, 
yet,  redemption  by  price  is  the  only  proper  re- 
demption ;  and  we  c*annot  reasonably  doubt  but 
redemption  by  price  is  the  meaning  of  the  most 
remarkable  texts  of  scripture,  where  Christ  is 
characterised  by  this  lovely  denomination.  What 
hath  he  obiuind  for  us  by  his  death  ?  Eternal 


lid  THE   rOlAK    STAK. 

redemption,  Heb.  ix.  12.  What  have  we  through 
his  blood  ?  Redemption  and  forgiveness  of  sin, 
Eph.  i.  7.  What  is  Christ  made  unto  us  of 
God  ?  Sanct(fication  and  redemption  ±  Cor.  i. 
39.  What  did  they  look  for  that  expected  the 
coming  of  the  Messias  ?  Redemption  in  Israel, 
Luke  ii.  28.  Even  Job  could  say,  I  know  that 
my  redeemer  liveth,  chap.  xix.  25.  We  sold  our- 
selves for  nought,  and  we  are  redeemed  with- 
out mojiey  of  our  own;  The  redemption  of  the 
soul  was  too  precious  to  be  effected  by  our  im- 
poverished stock.— But  we  are  not  redeemed 
without  money  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  gave  him- 
self for  us9  to  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity.  The 
ransom  was  paid  down,  the  price  beyond  all 
price  ;  a  sum  too  large  for  the  arithmetic  of 
angels  to  compute.- — Let  the  adversaries  bring 
forth  their  strong  reasons.  If,  say  they,  the 
death  of  Christ  was  a  proper  price,  it  was  paid 
to  the  devil,  whose  captives  we  were.  No ;  it 
was  paid  to  God,  whose  captives  we  were  ;  the 
devil  was  only  his  slave,  jailor,  and  executioner. 
But,  say  they,  if  it  was  paid  to  God,  it  was  paid 
by  Christ  to  himself.  And  where  is  the  absurdity 
here  I  It  is  true  a  man  catmot  satisfy  himself 
as  to  a  money-debt,  by  giving  money  to  himself 
that  another  owes  him;  yet,  as  to  a  criminal 
debt,  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  a  just  judge, 
even  among  men*  to  satisfy  his  own  law,  by 


THE   POLAR   StfAfc* 

submitting  to'what  it  requires.  Nor  does  this 
gospel  doctrine  calumniate  the  deity,  as  though 
h^e  was  a  greedy  tyrant,  that  will  let  no  prisoners 
go,  unless  he  can  get  great  riches  for  their  ran- 
som. For,  our  price  did  not  enrich  him,  hut  only 
paved  the  way  for  our  being  released  to  the  hon- 
our of  his  justice, 

Next  let  us  consider  it  as  a  Punishment.  A 
punishment  is  never  inflicted  by  a  just  governor, 
except  upon  transgressors  of  the  law  ;  for,  « to 
punish  the  just  is  not  good.'5  It  is  for  the  pun- 
ishment of  evil-doers  that  magistrates  are  set  up 
by  God.  Now,  if  the  death  of  Christ  was  a  pun- 
ishment, it  must  unavoidably  follow,  that  it  was 
vicarious.  Why  wouldst  thou,  O  heavenly  fa- 
ther, command  the  sword  of  justice  to  awake 
and  smite  the  man  that  is  thy  fellow  !  Surely 
it  was  not  for  his  own  fault;  for  "he  did  no 
sin,  neither  was  guile  found  in  his  mouth.'* 
Even  Pilate  acquitted  him,  and  Judas  absolved 
him.  Why  then  did  the  almighty  sovereign  of 
heaven  permit  such  an  innocent  person  to  be  put 
to  death  ?  Why  did  not  the  thunders  awake  ? 
Lo!  here  the  mystery  is  unfolded  :  he  died,  "  the 
just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to 
God.  He  was  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself;  for 
the  transgression  of  my  people  was  he  smitten/ '— 
Let  insolent  cavillers  object,  that  it  degrades 
our  Messiah,  to  regard  him  in  the  light  of  an 

K 


116  THE  POLIU   STAB. 

executed  felon  :  the  lower  the  humiliation,  the 
deeper  is  the  love. 

Lastly,  that  Christ  died  in  the  room  and  stead 
of  his  people,  appears  from  its  being   called  a 
sacrifice.     Who  knows  not  that  our  redeemer  is 
often  styled  a  high  priest  ?     His  human  nature 
was  the  victim,  his  divine  nature  the  altar,  his 
body  was  the  tabernacle.     Who  knows  not,  that 
the  legal  high  priests  did  hear  the  sins  of  the  peo- 
ple ? —  And  because  they  could  not  atone  for  the 
people,  by  laying  down  their  own  lives,  they  of- 
fered bullocks,  goats,  lambs,  and  sheep.    Whatevr 
absurd  accounts  our  ancient  and  modern  hocinians 
have  invented  of  the  meaning  of  sacrifices  of 
expiation,  most  certainly  the  language  of  them 
tvas,  O  Lord,  I  have  sinned ;  I  deserve  to  die ; 
but,  I  beseech  thee,  let  thine  anger  fall  on  this 
my  victim,  or  on  that  which  is  signified  by  it ; 
and  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner. — Thus  God  was 
ceremonially  appeased,  sin  was  expiated,  and  the 
Israelite  was  forgiven. 


The  union  letwixt  Christ  and  lelievers. 

THE  suffering  redeemer  had  now  resigned  his 
breath,  after  he  had  implored  the  divine  forgive- 
ness to  his  bloody  murderers,  and  with  an  a* 
mazing  loud  cry.  commending  his  departing  spir* 


THB   POLAR   STAR.  117 

it  into  the  hands  of  his  heavenly  father,  who 
shewed  it  the  path  of  life.  A  scene  it  was, 
which  nature  trembled  to  behold.  The  son 
called  in  his  rays,  and  mourned  in  sackcloth. 
The  pemple  rent  her  veil,  to  testify  at  once  her 
indignation,  and  that  the  way  into  the  holiest  of 
all  was  now  made  manifest.  And  even  the  rocks, 
the  flinty  rocks,  upbraided  with  the  hardness  of 
their  hearts  the  unpitying  tormentors  of  the 
L  rd  of  glory.  Lo!  there  he  hangs  a  lifeless 
corpse  !  A  wealthy  disciple  obtains  a  warrant 
to  perform  the  last  kindly  offices.  The  mangled 
body  is  wrapped  in  fine  linen,  and  decently  in- 
terred. Jn  vain  you  seal  the  stone,  and  appoint 
a  watch :  still  these  remains  are  the  body  of 
Christ,  and  the  peculiar  care  of  heaven,  which 
shall  not  see  corruption.  For,  the  third  day 
shall  ye  see  him  arising  from  the  bed  of  death  ; 
and  what  is  now  sown  in  dishonour,  shall  be  rais- 
ed in  glory. 

So.  just  so,  the  elect,  who  are  chosen  in  Christ 
from  all  everlasting,  even  while  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins,  and  lying  in  the  grave  of  the  cor- 
rupt natural  state,  are  regarded  by  God  as  the 
body  to  which  he  was  federally  united  in  the 
council  of  peace.  Was  it  impossible  for  the 
fleshly  part  of  the  redeemer  to  see  putrefaction 
in  the  grave,  and  to  remain  under  his  gloomy 
power  forever  ?  Equally  impossible  it  is  those 


il8  THE   POLAR   STAB. 

should  pine  away  in  their  iniquities,  who  are 
Christ's  dead  men  ;  whom  he  has  loved  with  an 
everlasting  love. 

"Within  two  days  he  shall  revive  them,  the 
third  day  he  shall  raise  them  up,  and  they  shall 
live  in  his  sight.  According  to  the  gracious 
promise,  hy  the  mouth  of  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
they  shall  not  always  remain  in  the  congregation 
of  the  dead.  "  For  thus  saith  the  Lord,  thy 
dead  men  shall  live,  together  with  my  dead  body 
shall  they  arise.  Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell 
in  the  dust." 

A  federal  union  there  is  in  scripture  reckon- 
ing, between  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  those  who  are 
predestinated  unto  life.  An  union  which  com- 
mences not  only  before  they  are  born  into  the 
world  of  grace,  but  before  they  are  born  into 
the  world  of  nature.  Before  they  were  born,  did 
I  say  ?  Nay,  it  is  an  union  ancient  as  eternity  it- 
self ;  and  grace  was  given  them  in  Christ  before 
the  world  began.  With  him  they  were  crucified  \ 
\\ithhimtheydied;  with  him  they  descended  into 
the  grave:  when  he  rose  from  the  dead,  they  also 
did  arise ;  when  he  ascended  on  high,  they  .a!  so  as- 
cended, and  sat  down  with  him  in  heavenly  places. 
Yet  still  this  blessed  connection  with  the  glorious 
surety  is  a  secret  reserved  in  the  breast  of  God  $ 
and  they  are  by  nature  the  children  of  wrath, 
ven  as  others,  until;  in  the  day  of  conversion, 


THE  yOlAR   STAK.  Hi* 

they  arc  actually  united  unto  Christ  by  a  mysti- 
cal implantation. 

In  the  worlds  of  nature  and  art,  there  are 
found  many  conjunctions ;  and  which  of  them  is 
not  summoned  by  the  spirit  of  God  to  shadow 
forth  this  supernatural  one  ?  As  the  body  is 
joined  to  the  garments  which  it  wears,  to  the  head 
with  which  it  is  adorned,  to  the  soul  wherewith 
it  is  animated ;  as  the  mother  to  the  child  con- 
ceived in  the  womb ;  as  the  root  to  the  branches  $ 
as  the  foundation  to  the  superstructure ;  as  the 
husband  to  the  wife  ;  so  is  Christ  unto  believers. 
They  have  put  him  on  as  a  garment;  they  are 
knit  together,  they  are  nourished,  they  increase 
by  him  as  a  head,  with  the  increase  of  God — He 
is  their  life  ;  it  is  not  they  that  live,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  them.  He  is  formed  in  their 
hearts.  In  him  they  are  rooted  as  branches  in 
the  vine,  built  up  as  lively  stones  upon  a  living 
foundation.  Great  is  the  nearness  of  the  hus- 
band to  the  wife,  when  they  are  no  more  twain 
but  one  flesh  ;  but  still  more  close  is  this  con- 
nection ;  for,  «  he  that  is  joined  to  the  Lord,  is 
one  spirit. 

Does  any  one  of  these  similitudes  convey  but 
an  imperfect  idea  of  this  mysterious  unity,  let 
the  remaining  ones  contribute  their  help  to  aid 
your  apprehensions.  But,  after  all,  they  fall 
short  of  the  thing  they  are  intended  to 


120  THE   POXAR   STAR. 

adumbrate.  And  therefore  the  wisdom  of  God 
compares  it  to  an  union,  by  which  indeed  it  is 
infinitely  transcended.  In  behalf  of  his  beloved 
people,  he  prays  the  father  that  they  may  be  owe, 
saith  he,  in  ns9  as  thon9fathert  art  in  me,  and  I 
in  thee;  John  xvii.  21, — It  is  true,  they  are  not 
joined  unto  the  redeemer  by  such  an  essential 
conjunction  as  is  betwixt  the  sacred  persons  of 
the  Godhead  ;  nor  by  such  a  personal  union  as  is 
between  the  eternal  son  and  his  temporal  hu- 
manity. It  is  not  an  unition  of  persons  in  one 
nature,  like  the  former ;  nor  of  natures  in  one 
person,  like  the  latter  ;  but  an  union  of  a  multi- 
tude of  persons,  not  merely  unto  the  doctrine 
of  Christ,  not  merely  unto  the  grace  of  Christ, 
but  the  person  of  Christ,  considered  not  as  God 
only,  not  as  man  only,  but  as  God-man. 

They  are  indeed  linked  together  by  the  bonds 
of  government  and  subjection,  and  by  the  ties  of 
strongest  friendship  $  that,  is  of  a  political,  and 
this,  of  a  moral  kind.  But  shall  we  say  the 
mysterious  expressions  we  mentioned  above,  de- 
note no  more  but  this  ?  Believers  are  joined  to 
Christ  by  the  bands  of  government  and  friend- 
ship. Does  the  spirit  of  God  then  wrap  up  the 
plainest  things  in  the  darkest  phraseologies  ?  Is 
this  to  the  honour  of  the  scriptures  ?  No  : — that 
be  far  from  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  revelation ; 
the  perfections  of  the  sacred  oracles.  It  is  not 


THE   POLAR    fcTAii.  121 

the  dark  phrases,  but  the  sublime  and  heavenly 
thing,  of  which  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  is  dis- 
coursing, when  lie  says,  this  is  a  great  mystery  ; 
I  speak  concerning  Christ  and  the  church. 

Christ  Jesus  and  believers  are  the  parties;  the 
spirit  and  faith  are  the  bonds  ;  the  law  and  the 
gospel  are  the  instrument ;  the  sacraments  of  di- 
vine institution  are  the  seals,  in  this  mysterious 
coalition.  Mysterious  indeed,  which  shall  not 
be  thoroughly  apprehended,  but  in  the  light  of 
glory.  For  thus  the  promise  runs  :  "  In  that 
day  shall  ye  know  that  I  am  in  the  father,  and 
the  father  in  me  ;  and  I  in  you,  and  you  in  me." 

A  mystery  this,  worthy  to  be  contemplated  of 
angels  and  arch  angels.  Angels  see  but  saints 
experience  it.  It  is  one  of  the  deep  things  of 
God,  which  the  natural  man  receiveth  not;  and 
even  the  spiritual  man  is  unable  to  comprehend 
it.  But  shall  it  therefore  be  rejected  as  incredi- 
ble, when  it  is  only  incomprehensible  ?  Chris- 
tians believe  greater  mysteries  than  this ;  and 
without  all  preadventure,  the  less  is  confirmed 
by  the  greater.  And  philosophers  acknowledge 
the  reality  of  unions,  for  which  they  cannot 
account. 

But,  O  !  thrice  happy  they  who  are  thus  join- 
ed unto  the  Lord,  and  found  in  Christ,  not  hav- 
ing their  own  righteousness  !  They  are  called 
by  his  name,  they  are  partakers  of  his  fulness^ 


THE  POLAK   STAR. 

and  in  all  their  afflictions  he  is  afflicted.  Though 
he  resides  in  heavenly  places,  and  they  are  so- 
jourtiers  on  the  earth  ;  yet  are  they  blessed  in 
him  with  all  spiritual  blessings.  You  trample 
upon  the  toe,  the  head  cries  out,  ivhy  persecutest 
thou  me  3  But  when  you  clothe  his  naked  and 
feed  his  hungry  members,  he  deems  you  did  it 
to  himself.  J  was  hungry,  and  ye  gave  me  meet; 
naked,  and  ye  clothed  me. 

Let  supercilious,  puny  mortals,  regard  with 
contempt,  or  cold  indifference,  the  saints  of  the 
most  high  ;  but,  O  !  let  my  delights  be  with  you, 
ye  excellent  of  the  earth.  Christ  is  not  asham- 
ed to  call  you  brethren  ;  God  is  not  ashamed  to 
call  himself  your  God.  A  more  exalted  honour 
this,  than  to  wear  an  imperial  crown,  and  fill  the 
throne  of  the  whole  earth! — To  you  there  is  no 
condemnation,  nor  falling  totally  away ;  you  are 
the  members  of  Christ,  therefore  he  knows  your 
wants  ;  you  are  the  body  of  Christ,  therefore  he 
'will  supply  them.  Christ  is  your  head,  he  will 
cleanse  your  defilements  ;  Christ  is  your  head, 
he  will  cure  your  diseases.  What  though  you 
be  in  poverty  ?- — you  are  in  Christ.  What  though 
you  be  in  reproach  ? — you  are  in  Christ.  Let 
death  divide  your  souls  and  bodies;  let  the 
grave  calcine  your  bones  ;  let  the  four  winds 
war  for  your  dust ;  your  vital  union  with  Christ 
shall  still  remain*  When  you  shall  render  up 


1?HE    POLAR    STAK. 

the  ghost,  you  die  in  the  Lord ;  and  \vhen  yon 
descend  into  the  peaceful  grave,  your  dust  shall 
sleep  in  Jesus.  Can  any  force,  can  any  fraud, 
find  means  to  enter  into  the  heaven  of  heavens ; 
and  pluck  an  eye,  or  tear  a  limb  from  the  glori- 
fied humanity  of  the  exalted  redeemer?  And 
even  in  the  days  of  his  humiliation,  the  sol- 
diers could  not  break  his  bones,  because  they 
saw  he  was  already  dead.  For  so  it  was  fore- 
told, in  ancient  prophecy,  a  bone  of  Mm  shall  i?oi 
be  broken.  But  ye  are  kept  as  the  apple  of  his 
eye  ;  and  are  the  members  of  his  body,  of  his 
flesh*  and  of  his  bones. 


On  trusting  in  God. 

HE  that  trusts  in  the  Lord  with  all  his  heart, 
does  not  indeed  expect,  that  God  will  do  that  fop 
him  which  he  has  never  promised  ;  far  less  that 
he  will  be  favourable  unto  him,  in  what  is  con- 
trary to  his  revealed  will.  But,  first,  he  sees 
that  liis  matters  are  good  and  right ;  and  then 
he  commits  the  keeping  of  his  soul  unto  the 
faithful  Creator;  who  is  a  buckler  to  them  alone 
that  walk  uprightly. 

If  he  is  called  of  God  to  any  difficult  duty,  for 
which  he  finds  himself  unequal,  he  persuades 
himself  that  God  will  command  his  strength, 


124  THE   I»OIAK   STA.R. 

and  work  in  him  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his 
good  pleasure  ;  and  out  of  weakness  he  is  made 
strong. 

He  will  not  indeed  presume  on  the  divine  pro- 
tection, when  rushing  headlong  into  dangers* 
evidently  foreseen,  without  IHM  essity  ;  as  though 
the  Almighty  were  obliged  to  suspend  for  him 
the  laws  of  nature,  and  be  prodigal  of  his  mir- 
aculous operations.  For  even  the  son  of  God 
himself  would  not  tempt  his  loving  father,  by 
casting  himself  down  from  the  pinnacle  ;  though, 
as  the  bold  impostor  told  him,  the  angels  had 
in  charge  to  keep  him  in  all  his  ways.  Hut  let 
liim  hear  the  voice  of  God  and  conscience;  this 
is  the  way9  walk  ye  in  it ;  though  he  should  pass 
through  fire  and  water,  he  laughs  at  fear;  and 
is  not  greatly  moved  by  the  most  ghastly  appear- 
ances of  danger, — Though  war  should  rise 
against  him  ;  and  death,  with  sable  wings, 
should  hover  round  his  head  ;  yet  will  he  fear 
no  evil.  For  «  thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect 
peace,  O  God !  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee,  be« 
cause  he  trusteth  in  thee." 

The  perfections  of  the  Godhead  arc  the  cham- 
bers of  safety  wherein  he  hides  himself.  That: 
everlasting  strength,  for  which  nothing  is  too 
difficult  ;— that  matchless  goodness  that  extends 
itself  even  to  the  birds  of  the  air,  and  lilies  of  the 
field  $— that  perfect  immutability  that  excludes 


THE   l'(ULAR  STAR* 

all  variableness  and  shadow  of  turning  ;— that 
Inviolable  veracity  by  which  it  is  impossible 
for  God  to  lie; — that  exact  omniscience  from 
which  no  want  can  be  hid  ; — that  incornpreben- 
sible  wisdom  which  can  make  all  things  work 
together  for  his  own  glory,  and  our  good  ; — 
the  promises  of  the  word,  and  all  the  experi- 
ences of  the  saints ;  these  are  his  sure  founda- 
tions on  which  he  builds  his  trust. 

If  he  himself  has  found  the  eternal  God  hig 
refuge,  experience  worketh  hope.  As  he  hath 
delivered,  and  doth  deliver,  he  trusts  in  God, 
that  he  will  yet  deliver.  If  he  has  recourse  to 
his  own  experiences,  and  finds  no  light  from  that 
quarter,  he  searches  out  of  the  book  of  the  Lord, 
and  finds,  that  never  were  the  righteous  for- 
saken. If  friends  proved  faithless,  or  unable  to 
afford  him  any  relief  in  the  day  of  calamity,  ene- 
mies shall  befriend.  Even  Philistines  and  Chal- 
deans shall  intreat  him  well  in  the  evil  day* 
Did  all  human  relief  fail,  and  vain  was  the  help 
of  man  ;  then  God  has  made  a  friendly  covenant 
for  him  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  the  birds  of: 
the  air,  and  the  fishes  of  the  sea.  Ravens  shall 
feed  him,  bears  shall  avenge  his  quarrel,  and 
monsters  of  the  deep  afford  a  safe  retreat. 
Fishes  have  supplied  his  wants ;  am!  dogs  have* 
proved  physicians  to  his  sores.— 4  f  the  animal 
creation  failed,  the  dead  and  liieless  creatures 


128  TIIE    POLAR  STAR. 

worldly  substance ;  lie  "  will  not  say  to  gold,  thon 
art  my  bope ;  nor  to  fine  gold,  thou  art  my  con- 
fidence $"  as  though  the  Almighty  would  esteem 
his  riches,  or  as  though  they  could  he  profitable 
in  the  day  of  his  wrath. — Though  he  should  equal 
Heman  in  the  deepness  of  his  exercise,  and  Paul 
in  the  abundance  of  revelation;  he  would  not 
reckon  it  expedient  for  him  to  glory. — Though., 
for  the  cause  of  Christ,  he  should  even  pour  his 
blood  ;  yet  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  would  he 
overcome  .;  yet  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  (and 
not  his  own)  would  he  wash  his  robes,  and  make 
them  white.— Though  his  gifts  should  be  em- 
inent, his  knowledge  clear  and  extensive  :  though 
in  the  sweetness  of  his  natural  temper  he  should 
be  like  a  Moses  ;  and  a  Paul  in  the  blameless- 
ness  of  his  life,  touching  the  righteousness  of  the 
law ;  though  his  profession  were  ever  so  strict, 
and  his  reputation  ever  so  fair  : — in  a  word, 
though  he  should  shed  many  tears,  pour  many 
prayers,  endure  many  hardships,  make  many 
YOWS,  form  many  resolutions,  and  exert  the  most 
vigorous  endeavours  in  working  out  his  own 
salvation  ;  yet  all  these  things  he  counts  but  loss 
and  dung,  that  he  may  win  Christ,  and  be  found 
in  him.  Though  the  saving  grace  of  G  od  should 
be  implanted  in  his  heart,  he  is  not  strong  in  the 
grace,  that  is  in  himself,  but  in  the  grace  that  is 
in  Christ  Jesus*  His  Justifying  merit  is  the 


THE    POLAR    STAR. 

alone  ground  of  his  confidence  for  the  pardon  of 
his  gilt;  his  sanctifying  spirit,  for  the  vanquish- 
ing the  power  of  his  inbred  corruption.  All  other 
confidences  he  rejects,  because  the  Lord  hath, 
rejected  them.  No  tempest  shall  he  able  to  bat- 
ter down  his  walls;  his  foundation  never  shall 
be  razed ;  his  confidence  shall  never  be  rooted 
out  of  his  tabernacle,  but  shall  have  a  great  re- 
eosiipence  of  reward.  O  «  blessed  is  the  man 
that  trusteth  in  the  Lord,  and  whose  hope  the 
Lord  is.  For  he  shall  be  as  a  tree  planted  by 
the  waters,  and  that  spreadeth  out  her  roots  by 
the  river,  and  shall  not  see  when  heat  cometb  ; 
but  her  leaf  shall  be  green,  and  shall  not  wither 
in  the  year  of  drought,  neither  shall  cease  from 
yielding  fruit." 


On  imitating  Christ* 

THE  imitator  of  Jesus  Christ  is  one,  who, 
being?  interested  in  him  as  his  propitiation,  can- 
not but  choose  to  follow  him  as  his  pattern  :  for 
lie  knows,  that  though  it  be  not  the  only  principal 
end  why  the  son  of  God  was  manifested;  it  is, 
however,  a  very  considerable  part  of  his  errand, 
in  visiting  these  regions  of  mortality,  to  give  us 
a  fair  transcript,  and  a  living  copy  of  all  those 
graces  and  duties  that  are  pleasing  unto  God, 


128  TUB   POLAR  STAR. 

worldly  substance ;  lie  «  will  not  say  to  gold,  thoti 
art  my  hope ;  nor  to  fine  gold,  thou  art  my  con- 
fidence f  as  though  the  Almighty  would  esteem 
his  riches,  or  as  though  they  could  he  profitable 
in  the  day  of  his  wrath. — Though  he  should  equal 
Heman  in  the  deepness  of  his  exercise,  and  Paul 
in  the  abundance  of  revelation ;  he  would  not 
reckon  it  expedient  for  him  to  glory. — Though, 
for  the  cause  of  Christ,  he  should  even  pour  his 
blood  ;  yet  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  would  he 
overcome.;  yet  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  (and 
not  his  own)  would  he  wash  his  robes,  and  make 
them  white.— -Though  his  gifts  should  be  em- 
inent, his  knowledge  clear  and  extensive  :  though 
in  the  sweetness  of  his  natural  temper  he  should 
be  like  a  Moses  ;  and  a  Paul  in  the  blameless- 
ness  of  his  life,  touching  the  righteousness  of  the 
law ;  though  his  profession  were  ever  so  strict, 
and  his  reputation  ever  so  fair  : — in  a  word, 
though  he  should  shed  many  tears,  pour  many 
prayers,  endure  many  hardships,  make  many 
YOWS,  form  many  resolutions,  and  exert  the  most 
vigorous  endeavours  in  working  out  his  own 
salvation  ;  yet  all  these  things  he  counts  but  loss 
and  dung,  that  he  may  win  Christ,  and  be  found 
in  him.  Though  the  saving  grace  of  God  should 
be  implanted  in  bis  heart,  he  is  not  strong  in  the 
grace,  that  is  in  himself,  but  in  the  grace  that  is 
in  Christ  Jesus.  His  Justifying  merit  is  the 


THE    POLAR    STAK. 

alone  ground  of  his  confidence  for  the  pardon  of 
his  giltj  his  sanctifying  spirit,  for  the  vanquish- 
ing the  power  of  his  inbred  corruption.  All  other 
confidences  he  rejects,  because  the  Lord  hath, 
rejected  them.  No  tempest  shall  he  able  to  bat- 
ter down  his  walls ;  his  foundation  never  shall 
be  razed ;  his  confidence  shall  never  be  rooted 
out  of  his  tabernacle,  but  shall  have  a  great  re- 
eompener-  of  reward.  O  "  blessed  is  the  man 
that  trusteth  in  the  Lord,  and  whose  hope  the 
Lord  is.  For  he  shall  be  as  a  tree  planted  by 
the  w.i(ers,  and  that  spreadeth  out  her  roots  by 
the  river,  and  shall  not  see  when  heat  cometh  ; 
but  her  leaf  shall  be  green,  and  shall  not  wither 
in  the  year  of  drought,  neither  shall  cease  from 
yielding  fruit." 


On  imitating  Christ. 

THE  imitator  of  Jesus  Christ  is  one,  who, 
being  interested  in  him  as  his  propitiation,  can- 
not but  choose  to  follow  him  as  his  pattern  :  for 
he  knows,  that  though  it  be  not  the  only  principal 
end  why  the  son  of  God  was  manifested  ;  it  is, 
however,  a  very  considerable  part  of  his  errand, 
in  visiting  these  regions  of  mortality,  to  give  us 
a  fair  transcript,  and  a  living  copy  of  all  those 
graces  and  duties  that  are  pleasing  unto  God, 


ISO  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

and.  that  are  commanded  in  tin*  law.  lie  rever- 
ences, indeed  (lie  footsteps  of  the  flock  ;  and 
blesses  Gori  for  the  holy  examples  of  living  and 
dead  sainis  ;  which  are  noble  incentives  to  piety, 
and  a  devout  conversation.  But  still  he  regards 
the  attest  examples  of  living  and  dead  saints, 
as  but  imperfect  mod*  Is  of  duty;  some  of  their 
actions  being  evidently  sinful,  and  others  of 
them  doubt i'u!  and  suspicious. — JVsus  Christ  he 
considers  as  the  only  finished  pattern  of  obedi- 
ence;  in  whose  presence  Moses  is  not  meek, 
Solomon  is  not  wise,  Job  is  not  patient,  David  is  not 
upright.  Abraham  Ss  not  strong  ift  faith.  Elijah  19 
nor  zealous,  and  i'uul.  the  labouring  apostle,  is 
not  diligent.  His  fellow- saints,  and  those  who 
have  gone  before  him,  nrny  indeed  surpass  him 
in  what  he  actually  attains  unto,  but  not  in  what 
he  aims  at.  lie  knows,  that  the  finer  the  copy 
is,  the  fiiirer  will  be  the  learner's  hand  ;  there* 
fore  he  sets  the  Lord  a! way  before  him. — To 
f<-»!ow  the  steps  of  Christ  alone*  is  far  more  eli- 
gible, in  his  esteem,  than  to  go  in  thr  way  of  the 
vorlii.  or  follow  the  multitude  to  do  evil.  And 
how  ea ;i  it  be  otherwise,  when  he  considers, 
th:**  tin-  example  of  Christ  is  the  example  of  his 
best  friend,  his  glorious  head,  his  great  Lord 
and  master,  his  leader  and  commander,  the 
sh<M»!ierd  and  hish op  of  his  soul,  the  captain  of 
his  Miivution.  and  the  author  of  his  high  and 
heavenly  calling  ? 


THE    POIiAR    STAR.  131 

He  reckons  it  a  far  more  glorious  and  honour- 
able attainment  to  resemble  bis  blessed  saviour 
in  holiness*'  and  obedience  to  the  will  of  God, 
than  though  he  could  be  like  him  in  the  power 
of  working  miracles  ;  a  power  which  has  been, 
in  some  measure,  imparted  to  the  workers  of  ini- 
quity. 

These  most  invaluable  books,  the  gospels  of 
Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John,  that  contain 
the  sacred  memoirs  of  the  life  of  Jesus*  he  pre- 
fers before  all  other  biography.  These  venera- 
ble histories  he  peruses  night  and  day  ;  not 
merely  with  the  eye  of  a  critic,  that  he  may  un- 
derstand their  sense  and  discover  their  beauties; 
but,  with  the  eye  of  a  painter,  who  gazes  at  a 
fine  picture,  that  he  may  imitate  the  artist's  deli- 
cate designs,  that  he  may  go  and  do  likewise. 

In  all  places,  companies,  duties,  and  emergen- 
cies, he  labours  to  consider  with  himself,  how 
wrould  my  Lord  and  saviour,  were  he  in  my 
place,  acquit  himself  on  this  occasion  ?  Would 
he  do  this  or  that  ?  Would  he  allow  it  to  be 
done  ? 

There  are  many  actions  of  the  man  Christ 
Jesus  which  were  performed  by  him,  as  a  human 
creature,  in  conformity  to  the  moral  law,  which 
are  to  be  imitated  in  the  letter  of  them.  If  he 
obeyed  his  parents,  prayed  to  his  God,  forgave 
his  enemies,  paid  tribute  to  Csesar,  despised  no 


133  THE    POLiK    STAEe 

j»an  for  his  poverty,  esteemed  no  man  for  his 
v/ealtli  ;  if  he  pleased  not  himself,  nor  sought 
his  own  glory ;  it"  he  was  heavenly  in  his  dis- 
course, cheerful  in  his  obedience,  unwearied  in 
his  application  to  his  work,  and  mortified  to  the 
world  in  the  whole  tenor  of  lib  conversation : 
these  are  branches  of  his  behaviour,  in  which 
the  servant  of  Christ  follows  him  in  the  most  lit- 
eral sense,  though  at  a  humble  distance  ;  not  as 
Asahel  followed  Abner,  but  as  Peter  followed 
his  master,  afar  off.  These  duties  are  not  only 
incumbent  upon  him  by  the  authority  of  the  pre- 
cept, but  are  sanctified  unto  him,  are  rendered 
sweet  and  easy,  by  the  example  of  the  Lord. 

But  there  are  other  actions  of  Christ,  in  which 
lie  acted  as  God :  he  fasted  forty  days,  he  judg- 
ed the  hearts  of  the  Pharisees,  he  took  the  ass 
of  another  man  to  ride  upon,  as  if  it  had  been  his 
own;  he  scourged  the-  buyers  and  sellers  out  of 
the  temple;  he  foretold  future  events,  and  per- 
formed a  great  number  of  miracles.  To  imitate 
these  in  the  letter  of  them,  the  Christian  knows, 
very  well,  is  utterly  impossible  :  and  ta  attempt 
it  is  absolutely  unlawful.  But,  though  the  mat- 
ter of  them  is  only  proposed  to  his  faith,  the 
spirit  of  them  or  the  mind  with  which  he  did 
them,  is  also  proposed  to  his  imitation.  His 
taking  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  when  he 
in  th$  form  of  God,  and  his  giving  himself  f* 


THE   POX.AK    STAK.  13S 

sacrifice  unto  God  of  a  sweet  smelling  savour  $ 
though  for  the  matter  of  them,  they  an*  actions 
.utterly  incapable  ol  imitation:  yet,  even  these 
high  acts,  in  the  true  spirit  of  them,  the  Chris- 
tian will  endeavour  to  transcribe,  by  a  humble 
and  condescending  behavior,  and  by  walking  in 
love,  as  Christ  also  loved  him. — As  John  the 
baptist  did  go  before  the  Messiah  in  the  spirit 
and  power  of  Elias ;  though  there  was  a  great 
difference  betwixt  the  individual  actions  of  these 
two  great  men  :  so  he  goes  in  the  power  and 
spirit  of  Christ,  notwithstanding  the  huge  dis- 
tance that  must  always  be  between  the  saviour 
and  the  saint. 

He  may,  as  his  Lord  and  master,  be  exposed 
to  calumnies  of  every  kind  :  but  at  last  his 
righteousness  is  brought  forth  as  the  light ;  and 
even  when  he  gains  not  the  applause  of  the 
tongue,  he  wins  the  approbation  of  the  heart. 
If  any  human  thing  could  reclaim  an  ungodly 
sinner,  it  would  be  the  conversation  of  him  who 
imitates  the  life  of  Christ.  Here  even  the  ear- 
nal  man  beholds  the  reality  of  religion  brought 
home  to  his  very  senses,  and  the  power  of  his 
lusts  is  assaulted  with  holy  violence.  As  Christ 
is  the  visible  image  of  the  invisible  God :  so  i& 
this  man  the  visible  image  of  Christ,  whom  the 
"world  seeth  no  more,  because  « the  heavens 
jnust  contain  him  until  the  time  of  the  restitu- 
tion of  all  things." 


THE    POLAR    STAE. 


On  Faith. 

HAPPY  the  man  who  lives  in  mortal  flesh  a 
life  of  faith  upon  the  son  of  God  ;  though  he 
dwells  not  in  the  gilded  palace,  he  has  the  most 
high  for  his  habitation.  Though  his  food  he 
homely,  he  fares  deliciously  every  day  upon  the 
hidden  manna.  For,  O  that  nohle  gift  of  God  ! 
he  in  whose  heart  she  dwells,  is  at  once  pos- 
sessed of  riches,  and  honours,  and  pleasures. 
Let  others  curiously  dispute  where  she  resides, 
in  what  faculty,  in  the  understanding  or  the 
will  ;  be  it  my  exalted  privilege  to  have  her 
formed  in  my  soul.  The  mountains  may  depart; 
the  hills  may  be  removed  ;  the  solid  earth,  with 
the  surrounding  heavens,  may  pass  away  :  but 
her  foundations  are  everlasting.  Sooner  shall 
chaos  eome  again*  and  God  deny  himself;  sooner 
shall  the  natural  and  the  moral  world  be  tossed  into 
confusion,  than  that  should  fail  by  which  she  is 
supported.  Great  is  that  revenue  of  glory  she 
brings  unto  our  God,  whether  she  trembles  at 
the  threatening,  or  relies  upon  the  promise, 
which  he  hath  spoken  in  his  holiness;  but  most 
of  all  when  her  main  object  Christ  is  before  her 
eyes,  as  the  saviour  from  sin  and  wrath.  When 
angels  circle  the  throne  of  God  with  heavenly 
anthems,  and  yield  the  most  unspotted  obedience 
to  the  divine  law*  they  glorify  their 


THE    POUUt   STAH.  135 

But  when  by  her  the  guilty  self-condemned 
wretch,  devolves  upon  the  Lord  the  burden  of 
innumerable  sins,  and  (rusts  for  pardon  of  them 
all,  this  is  glory  to  God  in  the  highest.  Though 
each  obediential  act  is  for  the  praise  of  God,  and 
glorifies  some  one  perfection  of  his  nature,  it  is 
hers  to  render  him  the  glory  of  them  all. 

As  reason  is  superior  to  sense,  so  faith  has  the 
pre-eminence  over  reason.  Be  reason  rever- 
enced in  matters  that  fall  within  her  sphere ; 
but  when  she  ventures  into  deeps  of  God,  the 
seas  where  faith  has  all  the  sovereignty,  when 
acting  like  herself,  she  loners  her  sails.  As 
sense  would  seem  to  tell  us  many  things  vrhh'h 
reason  contradicts,  so  faith  will  rectify  the  fond 
mistakes  of  reason  :  nor  ought  she  to  be  dissatisfi- 
ed. Faith  only  shuts  the  eye  of  reason,  not 
picks  it  out-  Nor  these  alone  submit  themselves 
before  this  noble  grace ;  even  others  her  feiio;y 
virtues  do  cfbcisarsee.  Though,  as  a  gracious 
quality,  she  stands  upon  a  level  with  the  rest ; 
yet,  as  an  instrument,  she  far  excels  in  glory. 
She  cannot  boast  indeed  of  her  intrinsic  worth, 
but  of  the  post  of  honour  which  she  fills  by  hea- 
ven's appointment-  She  only  is  the  general  re- 
ceiver of  all  the  blessings  of  the  gospel.  By  her 
we  call  heaven's  rich  unfathomable  mines  our 
own.  Because  she  liumb'eth  herself,  therefore 
hath  God  highly  exalted  Uer,  and  given  her  a 


136  THE   POLAR   STAB. 

name  above  every  grace.  Even  charity  herself 
is  only  greater  in  duration :  for,  she  abidHh 
when  Faith  shull  fail,  as  to  its  actings  ;  and  die 
like  Moses,  in  the  mount.  Such  is  her  bumble 
nature,  that  even  the  jealous  God,  who  will  not 
give  his  glory  to  another,  even  he  is  found  to 
give  his  giory  unto  her.  We  are  sored  byfailh; 
we  are  justified  byfm'th.  Sh*»  faithfully  returns 
the  glory  to  her  object.  lie  has  regarded  tbp 
low  estate  of  his  'handmaid,  because  himself  has 
said,  them  that  honour  me,  fwilljionwr. 

Though  weak  in  herself,  she  is  strong  in  the 
Lord  ;  her  very  weakness  is  her  strength.  She 
overcomes  the  devil,  and  the  world,  and  the  flesh. 
She  binds  up  the  arm  of  vengeance,  and  wields  the 
arm  of  omnipotence.  The  creature  is  not  able 
to  irh'si  her  ;  and  the  creator  will  not.  -She 
sa^s  unto  this  mountain  of  difficulty,  •«  be  fhou 
removed,  and  cast  into  the  sea/'  She  subdues 
kit  gdoms  of  lusts:  quenches  the  violence  of  the 
fire  of  wrath  ;  stops  the  mouth  of  the  infernal 
lion  ;  and  escapes  the  edge  of  the  sword  of  angry 
justice.  When  other  graces  quit  the  field,  her 
own  arm  brings  salvation.  What  slfall  I  say 
more  ?  If  thou  canst  heliere,  all  things  are  pos- 
sible. 

Such  is  her  strength,  no  wonder  she  is  as  bold 
as  a  lion  ;  though  timorous  and  distrustful  of  the 
creature.  Confiding  in  the  Lord,  she  is  not 


THE   POLAR    STAR.  137 

afraid  to  venture  into  the  holiest  of  all.  She 
plays  upon  (he  hole  of  the  asp,  and  thrusts  her 
hand  into  the  cocatrice's  den.  0  death,  where 
is  thy  sling  1  she  says  with  hold  defiance.  When 
presumptuous  believers  are  buried  in  the  mighty 
waters,  like  the  Egyptian  host,  she  passes 
through  the  fouling  waves  triumphant.  There 
is  none  like  her  in  all  the  earth ;  who  is  made 
without  fear  ? 

Though  poor  in  herself,  she  makes  many  rich 
with  the  treasures  of  eternity.  She  is  not  afraid 
of  the  snow  foi*  her  household,  for  all  her  house- 
hold are  clothed  in  the  scarlet  robes  of  everlast- 
ing righteousness. — Justiy  she  is  denominated 
pi*  ecious  faith,  when  she  interests  us  in  precious 
promises,  and  applies  unto  the  conscience  pre- 
cious blood. 

There  are  indeed  who  think  her  blind  and 
headlong  ;  yet  is  she  a  sharp  sighted  grace. 
She  comprehends  the  love  of  Christ  that  passelh 
knowledge,  doctrines  which  to  the  natural  man 
are  foolishness,  and  events  that  have  no  present 
existence,  are  realized  by  her.  "  She  is  the  evi- 
dence of  things  not  seen,  the  substance  of  things 
hoped  for,"  though  ever  so  remote  in  time 
or  place.  She  is  a  kind  «*f  second  sight,  not 
merely  to  behold  spectacles  of  hovror,  ghosts 
and  apparitions ;  but  the  kii;g  in  his  beauty,  the 


138  THE   POLAR   STAB. 

land  that  is  afar  off,  the  things  that  are  not  seen* 
that  are  eternal. 

It  is  true,  her  strength  is  to  sit  still,  to  look 
on  while  the  Lord  himself  doth  wonderousiy. 
Like  the  lillies  of  the  field,  she  toils  not,  neither 
does  she  spin.  And  certain  hold  blasphemers 
have  talked  of  our  most  holy  faith,  as  though 
she  were  no  friend  to  works  of  righteousness. 
Impossible  !  absurd  !  for  all  good  works,  without 
except  ion,  are  her  dear  offspring,  which  issue 
from  her  pregnant  womh.  These  are  her  chil- 
dren which  praise  her  in  the  gates.  And  she 
xnay  say  in  truth  with  the  apostle  of  the  gentiles, 
«  1  laboured  more  abundantly  than  all  the  other 
graces.  Do  we  make  void  the  law  through 
faith  ?  God  forbid  :  nay,  we  establish  the  law." 
The  law  as  a  covenant  she  makes  not  void  :  for 
she  presents  the  perfect  righteousness  of  Christ, 
which  answers  every  legal  charge.  And  though 
she  strips  the  law,  to  all  who  have  her,  of 
the  old  covenant-form,  she  turns  it  to  a  rule 
of  life,  and  supplies  the  believer  with  the  most 
effectual  motives  to  all  holy  obedience.  No 
work  of  God  can  be  acceptably  performed,  till 
once  you  have  believed.  This  is  the  prime  com- 
mand, and  your  most  necessary  duty. — For  with- 
out  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God,  by  any 
doing,  or  by  any  suffering.  By  faith  Abraham 
offered  up  Isaac  his  iirst  born  son  ;  and  by  iaith 


THE  POL4K   STAB,  139 

ihe   children  of  Abraham  put  the  knife   unto 
the  throat  of  their  most  favourite  lusts. 

But  ah  !  how  few  are  there  among  the  sons  of 
men  who  can  lay  claim  to  this  invaluable  grace! 
— Though  all  her  ways  are  pleasantness  and 
peace,  great  is  the  opposition,  by  fc.H  the  powers 
of  corrupt  nature,  unto  this  heavenly  viitue. 
The  bigotted  papist  will  rather  unergo  the 
drudgery  of  dismal  superstition.  The  blinded 
pagan  will  rather  choose  to  imbrue  his  h  *nds 
in  Ihe  blood  of  his  own  -offspring. — The  perverse 
jew,  descended  from  Abraham*  only  according 
to  the  flesh,  will  rather  yield  his  servile  neck  to 
the  old  galling  yoke  of  antiquated  ceremonies, 
than  be  at  all  induced  to  submit  unto  the  right- 
eousness of  faith.  'Iliey  know  not,  nor  will  un- 
derstand the  nature  of  this  exalted  grace. 
Though  even  in  matters  of  this  world,  all  know 
that  trust  is  no  uncommon  thing.  The  hus- 
bandman, at  the  return  of  spring,  is  not  afraid 
to  sow,  in  hope,  when  he  commits  the  foodful 
grain  unto  the  furrows  of  the  field  :  «  for  his 
God  doth  instruct  to  discretion."  They  who  go 
down  to  the  sea  in  ships,  repose  such  confidence 
in  their  floating  vessels  as  not  to  be  afraid  to 
trust  themselves,  and  all  their  worldly  riches, 
unto  the  boisterous  waves.  Why  is  it  that  so 
few  will  venture  their  eternal  all,  and  their  tem- 
poral felicity,  unto  the  faithful  word  of  promise  ? 
M 


THE  POLAR  STAIU 

TLe  man  who  sows  his  grain  in  the  furrow* 
frequently  disappointed  of  his  hopes.  And  many 
a  time  the  loaded  vessels  heeome  a  prey  to  tho 
unpitying  element  ©f  water.  But,  «  he  that  be- 
lieveth  shall  not  be  ashamed,  world  without 
end." 


On  forgiveness  of  sin  through  faith  in  Chrfet*$ 
divine  blood.* 

"WHEN  the  guilt  of  innumerable  evils  stares 
me  in  the  face,  and  angry  conscience  rouses 
from  her  slumber,  where  shall  t  fly  for  refuge  ? 
Where  shall  I  hide  my  head  ?  How  lay  the  grizly 
spectres?  Ye  favourite  lusts,  ye  pleasing  com- 
forts, ye  amusing  recreations,  in  vain  ye  lend 
your  aid.  Let  Cain,  with  his  hands  reeking  in 
Mood,  betake  himself  to  building  cities  ;  let 
Saul  attempt  to  find  relief  from  his  unquiet 
mind  in  the  charms  of  music,  while  David 


*  By  the  Uovd  of  Christ  is  frequently  signified 
in  scripture,  the  whole  merit  of  his  tife  and  death, 
of  his  actions  and  sufferings,  of  his  trials  and 
graces  ;  which  satisfied  God's  justice,  and  mag- 
nified God^  law  ;  which  made  propitiation  for 
iniquity,  and  brought  in  an  everlasting  righteous- 
ness. 

UERYEX'S  Sermon  on  the  means  of  safety* 


THE   POLin   STAR.  144 

touched  the  pleasant  harp  ;  let  the  drunkard 
seek  for  consolation  in  his  flowing  howl,  and  jol- 
ly companions  ;  the  sullen  ghosts  refuse  still  to 
depart,  when  God  calls,  as  in  a  solemn  day,  his 
terrors  round  ahout.  Even  vows  and  resolutions, 
prayers  and  tears,  costly  sacrifices,  and  solemn. 
promises  of  future  amendment,  cannot  recal  the 
departed  peace.  Let  pagans  with  horrid  rites, 
seek  reconciliation  with  their  fancied  gods,  and 
peace  unto  their  consciences  ;  let  carnal  Jews 
think  to  have  matters  adjusted  hy  their  ceremo- 
nial observances,  being  ignorant  of  the  righte- 
ousness of  God;  scourge  yourselves  to  death* 
ye  blinded  papists,  and  waste  your  carcases 
to  ghastly  skeletons,  by  withholding  sleep  from 
your  eyes,  and  nourishment  from  your  mouths  5 
travel  to  the  remotest  climes  in  weary  pilgrim,- 

~°!s 


think  that  you  shall  have  peace,  by  walking  after 
the  imagination  of  your  own  hearts.  «  The 
way  of  peace  you  have  not  known  ;  there  is  no 
judgment  in  your  goings." 

For,  unto  whom  should  we  go  but  unto  thee, 
0  thou  bleeding  saviour  !  By  thy  blood  hast 
thou  made  peace  betwixt  an  offended  deity  arid 
offending  mortals.  No  cause  of  death  was 
found  in  thee.  For  us  thou  drank  the  bitter  cup, 
Far  be  it  from  us  to  substitute  our  pretended 
sincerity,  our  sorrowful  repentance^  or  even  the 


14*2  THE   POLAR   STAtf. 

more  noble  grace  ef  faith,  in  the  room  of 
satisfactory  sufferings.  O  thou  prince  of  peace  ? 
By  thy  seasonable  interposition,  his  anger  is 
turned  away;  and  now  it  is  a  righteous  thing 
Hvith  God  abundantly  to  pardon. 

Happy,  thrice  happy,  they  w.ho  come  unto 
God  by  him,  whose  iniquity  is  pardoned,  whose 
transgression  is  forgiven.  Riches  and  honours, 
thrones,  crowns,  and  sceptres,  cannot  greatly  add 
to  their  bliss  ;  pain  and  poverty,  ignominy  and 
reproach,  cannot  greatly  diminish  their  happi- 
ness. It  is  true,  ()  ye  favourites  of  heaven,  the 
fact  of  sin  cannot  be  taken  away,  the  desert  of 
sin  cannot  be  removed  ;  yea,  even  its  power  and 
dominion  shall  not  be  totally  destroyed  in  your 
present  state  of  imperfection  ;  however,  there 
Is  no  condemnation  to  you  that  are  in  Christ 
Jfc-S!l.s.  No  condemnation  for  your  inherent  cor- 
ruption ;  Done  for  your  actual  transgressions  ; 
none  for  your  past,  none  for  your  futute  provo- 
cations. Chastised  you  may  be  with  the  rod  of 
a  father,  but  iiot  with  the  wounds  of  an  enemy. 
It  is  God  that  juslifidh,  who  is  he  that  con- 
dcmneih?  TV  hat  though  your  sins  are  many  ? 
He  multiplies  to  jjardon.  What  though  youp 
afflictions  are  great  ?— There  is  no  wruth  in  the 
portion  of  your  cup.  Though  men  should  con- 
demn you,  God  will  not;  though  devils  accurso 
ibcy  shall  riot  prevail,  f*  No  weapon  that  is 


143 

formed  against  thee  shall  prosper,  and  every 
tongue  that  riseth  in  judgment  against  thee,  thou 
shalt  eondemn.  This  is  the  heritage  of  the  ser- 
vants of  the  Lord ;  and  their  righteousness  is  of 
me,  saith  the  Lord/5 

Fly,  ye  profane,  who  turn  this  grace  of  God  into 
laseiviousness.  Be  awakened  ye  presumptuous, 
who  fondly  dream  your  sins  are  pardoned,  be- 
cause ye  have  forgotten  them,  or  because 
ye  have  felt  some  pangs  of  conviction,  or  be- 
cause judgment  is  not  speedily  executed  against 
your  evil  works.  How  can  ye  be  pardoned, 
who  have  such  slight  thoughts  of  the  God  who 
bestows,  the  saviour  who  procures  it,  the  gospel 
which  reveals  it  ?  Ye  that  are  ready  to  perish 
under  the  pressure  of  your  iniquities,  and  ye 
that  are  of  heavy  heart,  on  account  of  your  in- 
numerable transgressions,  here  is  a  strong  cor* 
dial,  a  refreshful  draught  from  the  wells  of  sal- 
vation. O  drink,  and  remember  your  misery  no 
more.  "  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the 
world  unto  himself,  not  imputing  their  trespasses 
unto  them." 

Nor  is  it  vain  presumption  in  you  to  believe,  that 
he  in  Christ  is,  at  this  present  hour,  pacified  to* 
wards  you  for  all  that  you  have  done.  Though 
you  have  been  wicked  and  unrighteous,  though 
your  sins  have  been  of  a  crimson  »dye,  scarlet- 
coloured  abominations,  the  blocj  of  Christ  can 
out  the  deadly  tincture;  and  make 


144  THE    POLAR    STAB, 

>vhhe  as  <he  finest  wool,  or  virgin  snow.  Wavs 
it  any  difficulty  for  the  Red  sea  to  euver  \vitii 
its  waves  the  numerous  host  of  Egypt,  when 
Pharaoh,  with  his  captains  and  common  soldiers, 
chariots  and  horses,  did  sink  to  the  bottom  as  a 
stone  ?  No  more  for  the  ocean  of  unbounded 
love  to  subdue  all  your  iniquities  ;  not  the  com- 
mon soldiers  only  of  ordinary  provocations,  but 
the  most  grizly  a  ,d  gigantic  sins.  In  the  presence 
of  his  exalted  majesty,  your  persons  are  but  like 
the  small  dust  of  the  balance  ;  which  is  not  con- 
siderable enough  to  sway  the  scale,  and  which 
the  gentlest  breath  can  blow  away.  Just  as  in- 
significant are  our  sins,  in  presence  of  his  pi-adon- 
ing  mercy. 

JVor  is  it  with  a  grudge  and  reluctance  the 
liberal  God  bestows  this,  perfect  gift.  Once  he 
delighted  in  wrath,  wherait  pleased  him  to  bruise 
his  beloved  son.  That  was  his*,  act*  his  strange 
act;  his  work,  hi*  strange  work.  He  has  no 
pleasure  in  the  death  even  of  the  guilty  sinner  as 
himself  declares;  why  then  in  the  death,  the 
eruet  death,  of  the  innocent  Immanuel  ?  The 
reason,  the  amazing  reason  is,  because  he  de- 
lighted in  merey  ;  ia  mercy  ta  the  human  race* 
Therefore  it  pleased  tlie  father  to  bruise  him. 

Glorify  God  for  this  mercy,  ye  pardoned  ones. 
— A  distinguished  blessing  it  is,  which  will  not 
accent  the  songs  of  angels,  but  of  the  redeemed 


THE    POL  Alt    STAK.  145 

from  among  the  human  race.  Rejoice  not  that 
your  wealth  is  increased,  that  your  circumstances 
are  prosperous,  hut  that  Your  iniquity  is  pardon- 
ed. Fear  (he  Lord  and  his  goodness,  and  walk 
humbly  with  thy  God. 

Reject  not  the  council  of  God  against  your 
own  souls,  you  who  have  not  yet  iled  for  refuge 
unto  this  hope  set  before  you,  as  you  would  not 
rob  God  of  his  glory,  nor  yourselves  of  peace. 
Will  you  neglect  this  great  salvation  ?  Will  you 
say  unto  the  Almighty,  depart  from  us ;  thy  gifts 
be  to  thy  self?  Cursed  shall  ye  be  of  the  Lord, 
>v hose  glory  it  is  to  pass  over  a  transgression. 
The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  shall  subscribe  thy  con- 
demnation ;  and  all  the  holy  angels  shout  their 
applause.  Amen,  says  the  church  militant  : 
Amen,  the  church  triumphant.  "In  returning 
and  rest  should  you  been  saved ;  in  quietness 
and  confidence  should  have  been  your  rest :  but 
you  would  not  hear."  Lo !  there  the  men  who 
made  not  the  Lord  their  confidence ;  who  robbed 
the  Lord  of  his  glory  :  and  would  not  be  behold- 
en to  him  for  the  pardon  of  their  iniquities.  Be- 
hold the  time  of  their  visitation  is  come  ;  and 
nvhere  shall  they  flj  for  help?  If  in  this  man- 
ner a  man  sin  against  the  Lord,  who  shall  intreat 
for  him  ?  They  would  not  take  hold  of  his 
strength ;  they  would  not  make  peace  ;  they 
would  not  consider  any  of  his  ways,  gee  now 


THE    POLAK  STAH. 

the  red  right  arm  of  vengeance  takes  hold  of  the 
glittering  sword  of  justice.  A  sword  ;  a  sword 
is  furbished  with  the  oil  of  mercy,  that  was  des- 
pised and  aft  routed.  See  how  he  cleaves  their 
reins  asunder,  and  breaketh  them  with  breach 
upon  breach.  Merciful  Lord  !  it  is  a  fearful 
thing  to  fall  into  thy  hands;  when  thou  art 
angry,  the  nations  shall  not  be  able  to  abide  thy 
indignation.  Make  us  wise  unto  salvation,  to 
know  the  things  that  belong  to  our  peace  ;  and 
to  fly  to  our  strong  hold  while  we  are  the  prison- 
ers of  hope. 


THE   POLAR    STAU^  147 

REFLECTIONS 

ON    TUB 

THIRD   HEAVEN. 

1.  I  considered  in  my  two  lastletters,  that  aw- 
ful and  tremendous  subject,  the  ubiquity  or  om- 
nipresence of  the  Divine  Being.  I  have  shewn 
that  he  is  equally  present  in  all  places  throngh- 
out  the  whole  extent  'of  infinite  space.  This 
doctrine  is  so  agreeable  to  reason,  that  we  meet 
with  it  in  the  writings  of  the  enlightened  heath- 
ens, as  I  might  shew  at  large,  were  it  not  alrea- 
dy done  by  other  hands.  But  though  the  Deity 
be  thus  essentially  present  through  all  the  im- 
mensity of  space,  there  is  one  part  of  it  in  which 
he  discovers  himself  in  a  most  transcendent  and 
Tisible  glory. 

2.  This  is  that  place  which  is  marked  out  in  scrip- 
ture under  the  different  appellations  of  Paradise, 
the  third  heaven,  the  throne  of  God,  and  the  habi- 
tation of  his  glory.  It  is  here  where  the  glorified 
body  of  oi»r  saviour  resides,  and  where  all  the 
celestial  hierarchies,  and  the  innumerable  hosts 
of  angels,  arc  represented  as  perpetually  sur- 
rounding the  scat  of  God  with  hallelujahs  and 


148  THE  J?OLAU   STAR. 

hymns  of  praise.  This  is  that  presence  of  God 
which  some  of  the  divines  call  his  glorious,  and 
others  his  majestic  presence. 

3.  He  indeed  is  as  essentially  present  in  all 
places  as  in  this;  but  it  is  here  where  he  resides 
in  a  sensible  magnificence,  and  in  the  midst  of  alt 
those  splendors  which  can  affect  the  imagination 
of  created  beings. 

It  is  very  remarkable  that  this  opinion  of  God 
Almighty's  presence  in  heaven,  whether  discover- 
ed by  the  light  of  nature,  or  by  a  general  tradi- 
tion from  our  first  parents,  prevails  among  all 
the  nations  of  the  world,  whatsoever  different  no- 
tions they  entertain  of  the  God-head, 

4.  If  you  look   into  Homer,  that  is,  the  most 
ancient  of  the  Greek   writers,  you  see  the  su- 
preme power  seated  in  the  heavens,  and  eneom- 
passed  with  inferior  deities,   among  whom  the 
muses    are   represented  as   singing  incessantly 
about  his  throne.      Who  does  not  here  gee  the 
main  strokes  and  outlines  of  this  great  truth  we 
are  speaking  of? 

5.  The  same  doctrine  is  shadowed  out  in  many 
other  heathen  authors,  though  at  the  same  time, 
like  several  other   revealed  truths,  dashed  and 
adulterated  with  a  mixture  of  fables  r~id  human 
inventions.     But  to  pass  over  the  notions  of  the 
Greeks  and   Romans,  those   more   enlightened 
parts  of  the  pagan  world,  we  find  there  is 


THE   POUK   STAR. 

a  people  among  the  lute  discovered  nations  who 
are  not  trained  up  in  an  opinion  that  heaven  is 
the  habitation  of  the  divinity  whom  they  \vor- 
ship. 

6.  As  in  Solomon's  temple,  there  was  a  Sanc- 
tum Sactorum,  in  which  a  visible  glory  appeared 
among  the  figures  of  the  chernbims,  and  into 
which  none  but  the  high  priest  himself  was  per- 
mitted to  enter,  after  having  n?ade  an  atonement 
for  the   sins  of  the  people ;    so,  if  we   consider 
this  whole  creation  as  one  great  temple,  tbere  is 
in  it  the  Holy  of  Holies,  into  which   the  high 
priest  of  our  salvation  entered,  and  took  his  place 
among   angels   and    arch  angels,    after   having 
made  a  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  mankind. 

7.  With  how  much    skill  must   the   throne  of 
God  be  erected?     With  what  glorious  designs  is 
that   habitation  beautified,    which   is   contrived 
and  built  by  him  who  inspired  Hiram   with  wis- 
dom ?     How  great  must  be  the  majesty  of  that 
place,  where  the  wh61e  art  of  ci  cation  had  been 
employed,  and  where  God  has   chosen  to  shew 
himself  in  the  most  magnificent  manner?    What 
'must  be  the  architecture  of  infinite  power  under 
the   direction  of  divine  wisdom  ?      A  spirit  can- 
not but  be  transported  after  an  ineffable   mariner 
tyhh   the   sight   of  those   objects,    which    werfe 
made  to  affect  him  by  thai  being  who  k*?o\vs  the 
iaward  irajae  of  a  soul,  add  liow  to  please  and 


150  THE   POLAR    STAR. 

ravish  it  in  all  its  most  secret  powers  and  facul- 
ties. 

8.  It  is  to  this   majestic  presence  of  God  we 
may  apply  those  beautiful  expressions  in  holy 
writ :  Sehold  even  to  the  moon,  and  it   shineth 
not ;  yea,  the  stars  are   not  pure  in  his  sight. 
The  light  of  the  sun,  and  all  the  glories  of  the 
world  in  which  we  live,  are  hut  as  weak  and  sick- 
ly glimmerings,  or  rather  darkness  itself,  in  com- 
parison of  those  splendours  which  encompass  the 
throne  of  God, 

9.  As  the  glory  of  this  place  is  transcendent 
beyond  imagination,  so  probably  is  the  extent  of 
it.     There  is  light  behind  light,  and  glory  with- 
in  glory.     How  far  that    space  may  reach,  in 
which  God  thus  appears  in  perfect  majesty,   we 
cannot  possibly  conceive.     Though  it  is  not  infi- 
nite, it  may  be  indefinite  ;    and   though  not  im- 
measurable in  itself,  it  may  be  so  with  regard  to 
any  created  eye  or  imagination.     If  he  has  made 
these  lower  regions  of  matter  so  inconceivably 
wide  and  magnificent  for  the  habitation  of  mor- 
tal and  perishable  beings,  how  great    may  we 
suppose  the  courts  of  his  house  to  be,  where  he 
makes  his  residence  in  a  morf  especial  manner, 
and  displays  himself  in  the  fulness  of  his  glory, 
among  an  innumerable  company  of  angels,  and 
spirit*  of  juht  men  made  perfect ! 

10.  This  is  certain,  that  our  imaginations  can- 


THE  POLAR  STAJR, 

siot  be  raised  too  high,  when  we  think  on  a  place 
where  omnipotence  and  omniscience  have  so  sig- 
nally exerted  themselves,  because  that  they  arc 
able  to  produce  a  scene  infinitely  more  great  and 
glorious  than  what  we  are  able  to  imagine. 

11.  It  is  not  impossible  but  at  the  consumma- 
tion of  all   things,  these  outward  apartments  of 
nature,  which   are  now  suited  to  those  beings 
who  inhabit  them,  may  be  taken  in  and  added  to 
that   glorious  place  of  which  I  am  here  speak- 
ing ;  and  by  that  means  made  a  proper  habita- 
tion for  beings  who  are  exempt  from  mortal  if  y, 
and   cleard  of  their   imperfections  :  for  so  the 
scripture  seems   to  intimate,  when  it    speaks  of 
new  heavens  and  of  a  new  earth,  wherein.  dwel« 
leth  righteousness. 

12.  I  have  only  considered  this  glorious  place 
"With  regard  to  the  sight  and  imagination,  though, 
it  is  highly  probable,  that  our  other  senses  nt  y 
here  likewise  enjoy  their  highest  gratifications. 
There  is  nothing  which  more  ravishes  and  trans- 
ports the    soul,  than  harmony  ;  and    we   have 
great  reason  to  believe*  from   the  description  of 
this   place  in  holy  scripture,  that  this  is  one  of 
the  .entertain merits  of  it. 

13.  And  if  the  sou!  of  man  can  be  so  wonder- 
fully affected  with  those  strains  of  music,   which 
human  art  is  capable  of  producing,  how  much 
iftorewillit  be  raised  and  elevated  by  those,  in 

N 


POLAR   STAK. 

which  is  exerted  the  whole  power  of  harmony! 
The  senses  are  faculties  of  the  human  soul, 
though  they  cannot  be  employed,  during  this  our 
vital  union,  without  proper  instruments  in  the 
body. 

14.  Why  therefore  should  we  exclude  the  sat- 
isfaction of  these  faculties,  which  we  find  by  ex- 
perience are  inlets  of  great  pleasure  to  the  soul, 
from  among  those  entertainments  which  are  to 
make  our  happiness  hereafter?  Why  should  we 
suppose  that  our  hearing  and  seeing  will  not  be 
gratified  by  those  objects  which  are  most  agreea- 
ble to  them,  and  which  (hey  cannot  meet  with 
in  these  lower  regions  of  nature  ;  objects,  which 
neither  eye  hath  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  can  it 
enter  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive  ! 

±5.  I  knew  a  man  in  Christ  (says  St.  Paul, 
speaking  of  himself,)  above  fourteen  years  ago, 
("whether  in  the  body.  I  cannot  tell  ;  or  whether 
out  of  tlie  body  I  cannot  tell :  God  knowethj 
such  a  one  caught  up  to  the  third  heaTen*  Jlntl 
I  know  such  a  man  Cwhether  in  the  body  or  out 
of  the  body ,  J  cannot  tell :  God  knowelhj  hoiv 
that  he  was  caught  up  into  paradise,  and  heard 
unspeakable  words,  which  it  is  not  possible  for  a 
man  to  utter. 

16.  By  this  is  meant  that  what  he  heard  was 
so  infinitely  different  from  any  thing  which  he 
hud  heard  in  this  world,  that  it  was 


THE    POLAR    STAR.  153 

to  express  it  in  such  words  as  might  convey  a 
notion  of  it  to  his  hearers. 

It  is  very  natural  for  us  to  take  delight  in  in- 
quiries concerning  any  foreign  country,  \vhere 
we  are  some  time  or  other  to  make  our  ahode  ; 
and  as  we  all  hope  to  be  admitted  into  this  glo- 
rious place,  it  is  hoth  laudable  and  useful  euri- 
osity,  to  get  what  information  we  can  of  it> 
while  we  make  use  of  revelation  for  our  guide. 

17.  When   these   everlasting    doors   shall   he 
opened  to  us,  we  may  be  sure  that  the  pleasures 
and  beauties  of  this  place  will  infinitely  trans- 
cend our  present  hopes  and  expectations,   and 
that    the    glorious   appearance   of  the    throne 
of  God  will  rise   infinitely  beyond   whatever   we 
are   able  to  conceive  of  it.     We  might  here  en- 
tertain ourselves  with  many  other  speculations 
on  this  subject,   from  those  several  hints  which 
we  find  of  it  in  the  holy  scriptures  ;  as  whether 
they  may  not  be  different  mansions  and  apart- 
ments of  glory,  to  beings  of  different  natures; 
whether,  as  they  excel  one  another  in  perfection, 
they  are  not  admitted  nearer  to  the  throne  of  the 
Almighty,    and   enjoy  greater  manifestations  of 
his  presence. 

18.  Whether  there  are  not  solemn  times  and 
occasions,   when  all    the    multitude   of  heaven 
celebrate  the  presence  of  their  maker,  in  more 
extraordinary  forms  of  praise  and  adoration  $  as 


THE   FOtAR    STAB. 

Adam,  though  he  had  continued  in- a  state  of  in- 
nocence, would,  in  the  opinion  of  our  divines, 
have  kept  holy  the  Sabbath-day,  in  a  more  par- 
ticular manner  tha*?  any  other  of  the  seven* 
These,  and  the  like  speculations,  we  may  very 
innoci-ntly  indulge,  so  long  as  we  make  use  of 
them  to  inspire  us  \rith  a  desire  of  becoming 
inhabit  ants  of  this  delightful  place. 

19.  I  have  in  this,  and  in  two  foregoing  let- 
ters, treated  on  the  most  serious  subject  that  can 
employ  the  mind  of  nan,  the  omnipresence  of  the 
Deity  ;  a  subject  which,  if  possible,  should  never 
depart  from  our  meditations.  'We  have  con- 
sidered the  Divine  Being,  as  he  inhabits  infini- 
tude, as  he  dwells  among  his  works,  as  he  is  pre- 
sent to  the  mind  of  man,  and  as  he  discovers 
himself  in  a  more  glorious  manner  among  the 
regions  of  the  blest.  Such  a  consideration 
should  be  kept  awake  in  us  at  all  times,  and  in 
all  places,  and  possess  our  minds  with  a  perpet- 
ual awe  and  reverence. 

520.  Jt  should  be  interwoven  with  all  our 
thoughts  and  perceptions,  and  become  one  with 
she  consciousness  of  our  own  bring.  It  is  not  to 
be  reflected  on  ia  the  coldness  of  philosophy, 
but  ought  to  sink  us  into  the  lowest  prcsU'&tiun 
before  him,  who  is  so  astoai shingly  great;  won? 
derfu),  ami  holy. 


THE   FOLAK    STAB. 


MATURE. 

1.  I  have  always  been  a  very   great  lover  of 
your  speculations,  as  veil  in  regard   to  the  sub- 
ject, as  to  your  manner  of  treating  it.     Human 
nature  I  always  thought  the  most  useful   object 
of  human  reason,  and  to  make  the  consideration 
of  it  pleasant  and  entertaining,  I  always  thought 
the  best  employment  of  human  wit :  other  parts 
of  philosophy   may   perhaps  make  us  wiser,  but 
this  not  only  answers  that   end,  but  makes   us 
better  too. 

2.  Hence  it   was  that  the  oracle  pronounced 
,  Socrates  the  wisest  of  all  men  living,,  because  he 

judiciously  made  choice  of  human  nature  for  the 
object  of  his  thoughts;  an  enquiry  into  which  as 
much  exceeds  all  other  learning,  as  it  is  of  more 
consequence  to  adjust  the  true  nature  and  meas- 
ures of  right  and  wrong,  than  to  settle  the  dis- 
tance of  the  planets,  and  compute  the  times  of 
their  circumvolutions^ 

3.  One  good  effect  that  will  immediately  arise 
from   a  near  observation  of  human  nature,   is, 
that  we  shall  cease  to  wonder  at   those  actions- 
which    men  are  used  to  reckon  wholly   unac- 
eountable  ;  for  as  nothing  is  produced  without  si 
*ause,  so  by  observing  the  nature  and  course  of - 


13£  THE  POLAR;  STAR* 

the  passions,  we  shall  be  able  to  trace  every  ac- 
tion from  its  first  conception  to  its,  death. 

a.  We  shall  no  more  admire  at  the  proceed- 
ings of  Catiline  and  Tiberius,  when  we  know 
the  or,e  was  actuated  by  a  cruel  jealousy,  the 
other  by  a  furious  ambition  ;  for  the  actions 
of  me«  follow  their  passions  as  naturally  as  light 
does  heat,  or  as  any  other  effect  Hows  from  its 
cause  ;  reason  must  be  employed  in  adjusting 
the  passions,  but  they  must  ever  remain  the 
principles  of  action. 

5.  The  strange  and  absurd  va/iefy  that  is  so 
apparent  in  men's  actions,  shews  plainly  they 
ean  never  proceed  immediately  from  reason  ;  sa 
pure  a  fountain  emits  no  such  troubled  waters  ; 
they  must  necessarily  arise  from  the  passions, 
which  are  to  the  mind  as  the  winds  to  a  ship  ; 
they  only  can  move  it,  and  they  too  ofieri  destroy 
it  :  if  fair  and  gentle,  they  guide  it  into  the  har- 
bour ;  if  contrary  and  furious,  they  overset  it  in, 
the  waves. 

G.  In  the  same  manner  is  the  mind  assisted  or 
endangered  by  the  passions  ;  reason  must  then 
Hike  the  place  of  pilot,  and  can  never  fail  of  sc- 
ouring her  charge  ifshe.be  not  wanting  to  her- 
self;  the  strength  of  the  passions  will  never  be 
accepted  as  an  excuse  for  complying  with  them  : 
they  were  designed  for  subjection  ;  and  if  a  man 
suffers  them  to  get  the  upper  hand,  he  then  be^ 
trays  the  liberty  of  his  own  soul. 


THE    POLAR   STAR*  157 

7.  As  nature  has  framed  the  several  species  of 
beings  as  it  were  in  a  chain,  so  rnan  seems  to  he 
placed  as  the  middle  link  between    angels  and 
brutes  ;  hence  he  participates  both  of  flesh  and 
spirit  by  an   admirable  tye,  which  in   him  occa- 
sions perpetual  war  of  passions  ;  and  as  a   man 
inclines  to  the  angelic  or  brute  part  of  his  con- 
stitution, he  is  then  denominated  good  or  bad, 
virtuous  or  wicked  :  if  love,   mercy,   and  good- 
nature prevail,  they  speak  him  of  the  angel  ;  if 
hatred,  cruelty,  and  envy  predominate,  they  de- 
clare his  kindred  to  the  brute. 

8.  Hence  it  was  that  some  ancients  imagined; 
that  as  men  in  this  life  inclined  more  to  the  an- 
gel or  the  brute,  so  after  their  death  they  should 
transmigrate  into   the  one  or  the  other  ;  and  it* 
would   be  no   unpleasant   notion  to  consider  the 
several   species   of  brutes,  into   which  we  may 
imagine  that  tyrants,  misers,  the  proud,  mail' 
c'ious,  and  ill-natured,  might  be  changed. 

9.  As  a  consequence  of  this  original,  all  pas- 
sions are  in  all  men,  but  appear  not  in  all :    con- 
stitution, education,  custom  of  the  country,  rea- 
son, and  the  like  causes  may  improve  or  abate 
the  strength  of  them,  but  still  the  seeds  remain, 
which  are  ever  ready  to  sprout  forth  upon  the 
least  encouragement. 

10.  I  have  heard  a  story  of  a  good  religious 
man,  who  having  been  bread  with  the  milk  of  a 


15S  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

gnat,  was  very  modest  in  puMic,  by  a  careful 
reflection  he  made  on  his  actions,  hut  he  fre- 
quently had  an  hour  in  secret,  wherein  he  had 
his  frisks  and  capers  ;  and,  if  we  Ir  d  an  oppor- 
tunity of  examining  the  retirement  of  the  strict- 
est philosophers,  no  doubt  hut  we  should  find 
perpetual  returns  of  those  passions  they  so  art- 
fully conceal  from  the  public. 

it.  1  remember  Machiavel  observes,  that 
every  state  should  entertain  a  perpetual  jralousy 
of  its  neighbours,  that  so  it  should  never  be 
unprovided  when  an  emergency  happens;  in 
like  manner  should  reason  be  perpetually  on  its 
guard  against  the  passions,  and  never  suffer 
them  to  cary  on  any  design  that  may  be  destruc- 
tive of  its  security  ;  yet,  at  the  same  time,  it 
must  be  careful,  that  it  don't  so  far  break  their 
strength  as  to  render  them  contemptible,  and, 
consequently,  itself  unguarded. 

12.  The  understanding  being  of  itself  too  slow 
and  lazy  to  exert  itself  into  action,  it  is  neces- 
sary it  should  be  put  in  motion  by  the  gentle 
gales  of  passions,  which  may  preserve  it  from 
stagnating  and  corruption  ;  for  they  are^ecessa- 
ry  to  the  health  of  the  mind,  as  the  circulation 
of  the  animal  spirits  i»  to  the  health  of  the 
body  ;  they  kept  it  in  life,  and  strength,  and  vi- 
gour ;  nor  is  it  possible  for  the  mind  to  perform 
its  offices  without  their  assistance  }  these  mo* 


THE    POLAR    STAB.  15$ 

lions  are  given  us  with  our  being  ;  they  are  little 
spirits,  that  are  born  and  die  with  us  ;  to  some 
they  are  mild,  easy  and  gentle  ;  to  others  way- 
ward and  unruly  ;  yet  never  too  strong  for  the 
reins  of  reason,  and  the  guidance  of  judgment. 

13.  We  may  generally  observe  a  pretty  nice 
proportion  between  the  strength  of  reason  and 
passion  ;  the  greatest  geniuses  have  commonly 
the  strongest  affections,  as,  on  the  other  ha;*d. 
the  weaker  understandings  have  generally  the 
weaker  passions  :  and  'tis  fit  the  fury  of  the 
coursers  should  not  be  too  great  for  the  strength 
of  the  charioteer. 

1*.  Young  men,  whose  passions  are  not  a  lit- 
tle unruly,  give  small  hopes  of  their  being  con- 
siderable;  the  fire  of  youth  will  of  course  abate? 
and  is  a  fault,  if  it  be  a  fault,  that  mends  every 
day  ;  but  surely,  unless  a  man  has  fire  in  youth? 
he  can  hardly  have  warmth  in  old  age. 

15.  We  must  therefore  be  very  cautious,  lest 
while  we  think  to  regulate  the  passions,  we 
should  quite  extinguish  them  ;  which  is  putting 
out  the  ligfht  of  the  soul ;  for  to  be  without  pas- 
sion, or  to  be  hurried  away  with  it,  makes  a 
man  equally  blind.  The  extraordinary  severity 
used  in  most  of  our  schools  has  this  fatal  effect  $ 
it  breaks  the  spring  of  the  mind,  and  most  cer- 
tainly destroys  mere  good  geniuses  than  it  can 
possibly  improve, 


160  THE    POIAR    STAR. 

16.  And  surely  tis  a  mighty  mistake  that  the 
passions  should  be  so  entirety  subdued  ;  tor  little 
irregularities  are  sometimes  not  only  to  be  bore 
with,  but  to  be   cultivated  too,  since  they  are 
frequently   attended  with   the   greatest   perfec- 
tions.    All  great  geniuses  have  faults  mixed  with 
their  virtues,  and   resemble  the  flaming   bush 
which  has  thorns  amongst  lights. 

17.  Since  therefore  the   passions  are  the  prin- 
ciples of  human  actions,   we  must  endeavour  to 
manage  them  so  as  to  retain    their    vigor,   yet 
keep    them    under    strict    command  ;    we    must 
govern   them    rather   like    free    subjects    than 
slaves,  lest,  while   we  intend   to  make  them  obe- 
dient, they  become  abject,  and    unfit  for  those 
great  purposes  to  which  they  were  designed. 

18.  For  my  part,  I  must  confess,  I  could  never 
have  any   regard  to  that   sect  of  philosophers, 
who  so  much  insisted  upon  an  absolute  indiffer- 
ence and  vacancy  from  all  passion ;  for  it  seems 
to  me  a  thing  very  inconsistent  for  a  man  to   di- 
vest himself  of  humanity,  in   order  to   acquire 
tranpuility   of  mind,   and  t®  eradicate  the  very 
principles  of  action,  because  it  is  possible  they 
may  produce  ill  effects. 


THE  POiAK   STAB.  161 


I  gjod  conscience    the  best    security    against 
Calumny  and  Reproach. 

1.  A  good   conscience    is  to    the   soul  what 
health  is  to  the  body ;  it   preserves  a   constant 
ease  and  serenity  within  us,  and  more  than  coun- 
tervails all  the  calamities  and  afflictions  which 
can  possibly  befall  us.     I  know  nothing  so  hard 
for  a  generous  mind  to  get  over  as  calumny  and 
reproach,  and  cannot  find  any  method  of  quiet- 
ing the  soul  under  them,  besides  this  single  one, 
of  our  being  conscious  to   ourselves  that  we  do 
not  deserve  them. 

2.  I  have  been  always  mightily  pleased  with 
that  passage  in  Don  Quixote,  where  the  fantas- 
tical knight  is   represented  as  loading  a  gentle- 
man of  good  sense  with  praises  aud  elogiums. 
Upon  which  the  gentleman  makes  this  reflection 
to   himself:  how  grateful   is  praise   to   human 
nature  ! 

3.  I  cannot   forbear   being    secretly    pleased 
with  the  commendations  I  receive,  though,  I  am 
sensible,  it  is  a  madman  who   bestows   them  on 
me.     In  the  same  manner*  though  we  are  often 
sure  that  the  sensures  wbi;-h  are  passed  u^on  us, 
are  uttered  by  those  who  know  nothing  of  us* 


162  THE   POLAR   STAK. 

and  have  neither  means  nor  abilities  to  form  a 
right  judgment  of  us,  we  cannot  forbear  being 
grieved  at  what  they  say. 

4.  In  order  to  heal  this  infirmity,  which  is   so 
natural   to  the   best  and    wisest  of  men,  I   have 
takesi  a  particular  pleasure  in  observing  the  con- 
duct  of  the   old   philosophers,    how   they   bore 
themselves  up  against  the  malice  and  detraction 
of  their  enemies. 

5.  The  way  to  silence  calumny,  says  Bias,  is 
to   be  always  exercised  in  such  things  as  are 
praise-worthy,     fcoerates,  after  having  received 
sentence,   told   his  friends   that   he   had  always 
accustomed    himself  to    regard    truth  and   not 
censure,  and  (hat  he  was  i?ot  troubled  at  his  con- 
demnation, because  h^    kn^w  himself  free  f«  om 
guilt.     It   was   in  the  same  spirit  that  he  heard 
the  accusations  of  his  two  great  adversarie,  who 
hud   uttered  against  him  the   most  virulent  re- 
proaches. 

6.  Anytus  and  Melitus,  says  he,  m^y  procure 
sentence  against  me,  but  they  cannot  hurt   me. 
This  divine  philosopher  was  so  well   fortified  in 
his  own   innocence,  that  he  neglected  all  the  im- 
potence of  evil  tongues  which  were  engaged  in 
his  destruction.     This  was  properly  the  support 
of  a  good  conscience,  that  contradicted  the  re- 
ports  which  h?vf   been  raised  against  him,  and 
cleared  him  to  himself. 


POLAR   STAR.  163 

7.  Others  of  the  philosophers  rather  chose  to 
'retort  the  injury  of  a  smart  reply,  than  thus  to 
disarm  it  with  respect  to  themselves.  They 
show  that  it  stung  them,  though  at  the  same? 
time  they  had  the  address  to  make  their  aggres- 
sors sufitT  with  them.  Of  this  kind  is  Aristo- 
tle's reply  to  one  who  pursued  him  with  lor?g 
and  bitter*  invectives.  You,  says  he,  who  are 
used  to  suffer  reproaches,  utter  them  with  de* 
light ;  I  who  have  not  been  used  to  utter  them*, 
take  no  pleasure  in  hearing  them. 

8.  Diogenes  was  still  more  severe  on  one  who 
spoke  ill  of  him  :  nobody  will  believe  you  when 
you  speak  ill  of  me,  any   more  than  they  would 
believe  me  should  I  speak  well  of  you. 

In  these  and  many  other  instances  T  could 
produce,  the  bitterness  of  the  answer  sufficiently 
testifies  the  uneasiness  of  mind  the  person  was 
under  who  made  it. 

9.  I  would  rather  advite  my  reader,  if  he  has 
not  in  this   case  the  secret  consolation,  that  he 
deserves  no  such  reproaches  as  are  cast  upon 
him,  to  follow  the  advice  of  Kpictetust     If  any 
one  speaks  ill  of  thee,  consider  whether  he  has 
truth  on  his  side  ;  and  if  so,  reform  thyself,  that 
liis  censures  may  not  aflfect  thee. 

10.  When    Anaximander  was    told  that  the 
very  hoys  laughed  at  his  singing:    Ay,  says  he> 
then  I  must  learn  to  sing  better.     But  if  all  the 


THE   POLAB   STAB. 

sayings  of  phylosophers  which  I  have  gathered 
together  for  my  own  use  on  this  occasion,  there 
are  none  which  carry  in  them  more  candour  and 
good  sense  than  the  two  following  ones  of  Plato. 

11.  Being  told  that  he  had  many  enemies  who 
spoke  ill  of  him  ;  it  is  no  matter,  said  he,  I  will 
live  so  that  none  shall  believe  them.     Hearing 
at  another  time,  that  an  intimate  friend  of  his 
had   spoken  detractingly  of  him  ;  I  am  sure  he 
would  not  do  it,  says  he,  if  he  had  not  some  rea- 
son for  it. 

12.  This  is  the  surest  as  well  as  the  noblest 
way  of  drawing  the  sting  out  of  a  reproach,  and 
a  true  method  of  preparing  a  man  for  that  great 
and    only  relief  against  the  pains  of  calumny, 
«  a  good  conscience." 

13.  I  designed  in  this   essay,   tor  show,  that 
there  is  no  happiness  wanting  to  him  who  is  pos- 
sessed of  this  excellent  frame  of  mind,  and  that 
no  person  can  be  miserable  who  is  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  it :  but  I  find  this  subject  so  well  treated 
in  one  of  Dr.  South's  sermons,  that  1  shall  fill 
this  Saturday's  paper  with  a  passage  of  it,  which 
cannot  but  make  the  man's  heart  burn  within 
him,  who  reads  it  with  due  attention. 

14.  That  admirable  author,  having  shewn  she 
virtue  of  a  good  conscience,  in  supporting  a  man 

the  greatest  trials  and  difficulties  of  life. 


THE   POLAft   STAH.  165 

concludes  with  representing  its  force  and  efficacy 
in  the  hour  of  death. 

15.  The  third  and  last  instance,  which  above 
all  others  this  confidence  towards  God  does  most 
eminently  show  and  exert  itself,  is  at  the  time 
of  death  ;  which   surely  gives  the  grand  oppor- 
tunity of  trying  both  the   strength  and  worth  of 
every  principle. 

16.  When  a  man  shall  be  just  about  to  quit 
the  stage  of  this  world,  to  put  off  his  mortality, 
and  to  deliver  up  his  last  accounts  to  God  ;  at 
which  sad  time  his  memory  shall  serve  him  for 
little  else,  but  to  terrify  him  with  a  frightful  re- 
view of  his  past  life,  and  his  former  extravagan- 
cies stripped  of  all  their  pleasure,  but  retaining 
their  guilt;    what  is  it  then  that  can  promise 
him  a  fair  passage  into  the  other  world,  or  a 
comfortable    appearance    before    his    dreadful 
judge  when  he  is  there  ? 

17.  Not  all  the  friends  and  interests,  all  the 
riches  and  honours  under  heaven  can  speak  so 
much  as  a  word  for  him,  or  one  word  of  comfort 
to  him  in  that  condition  ;  they  may  possibly  re- 
proach, but  they  cannot  relieve  him. 

18.  No,  at  this  disconsolate  time,   when  the 
busy  temper  shall  be  more  than   usually  apt  to 
vex  and  trouble  him,  and  the  pains  of  a  dying 
body   to  hinder  and  discompose  him,  and   the 
settlement  of  worldly  affairs  to  disturb  and  con- 


166  THE   FOtAJl   STAB. 

found  him  ;  and  in  a  word,  all  things  conspire 
to  make  his  sick-bed  grievous  and  uneasy:  no- 
thing can  then  stand  up  against  all  these  ruins, 
$nd  speak  life  in  the  midst  of  death,  but  a  clear 
conscience. 

19.  And  the  testimony  of  that  shall  make  the 
comforts  of  heaven  descend  upon  his  weary  head, 
like  a  refreshing  dew,  or  shower  upon  a  parched 
ground.     It  shall  give  him  some  lively  earnests, 
and  secret  anticipations  of  his  approaching  joy. 
It  shall  bid  his  soul  go  out  of  the  body  undaunt- 
edly, and  lift  up  his  head  with  confidence  before 
saints  and  angels.     Surely  the  comfort,   which 
it  conveys  at  this  season,  is  something  bigger 
than  the  capacities  of  mortality,  mighty  and  un- 
speakable,  and   not   to  be   understood  until   it 
3omes  to  be  felt. 

20.  And   now   who   would   not  quit    all   the 
pleasures,  and  trash,  and  trifles,  which  are  apt 
to  captivate  the  heart   of  man,   and  pursue  the 
great  rigours  of  piety,  and  austerities  of  a  good 
life,  to  purchase  to  himself  such  a  conscience,  as 
at  the  hour  of  death,  when  all  the  friendship  in 
the  world  shall  bid  him  adieu,  and  the  whole 
creation  turns  its  back  upon  him,  shall  dismiss 
the  soul  and  close  his  eyes  with  that  blessed  sen- 
tence, «  Well  done  thou  good  arid  fait hftil  stir- 
vant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord," 


THE   POXAR   STAB.  107 


OJV  CONTENTMENT. 

1.  I  was  once  engaged  in  discourse  with  a 
Bosierucian  about  the  great  secret.  As  this 
kind  of  men  (I  mean  those  of  them  who  are  not 
pofessed  cheats)  are  over-run  with  enthusiasm 
and  philosophy,  it  was  .very  amusing  to  hear  this 
religious  adept  discanting  on  his  pretended  dis- 
covery. He  talked  of  the  secret  as  of  a  spirit 
which  lived  within  an  emerald,  and  converted 
every  thing  that  was  near  it  to  the  highest  per- 
fection it  is  capable  of. 

3.  It  gives  a  lustre,  says  he  to  the  sun,  and? 
water  to  the  diamond.  It  irradiates  every 
metal,  and  enriches  lead  with  the  properties  of 
gold,  it  heightens  smoke  into  ilame,  flame  in- 
to light,  and  light  into  glory.  He  further  ad- 
ded, that  a  single  ray  of  it  discipates  pain,  and 
care,  and  melancholy,  from  the  person  on  whom 
it  falls,  in  short,  says  he,  its  presence  naturally 
changes  every  place  into  a  kind  of  heaven. 

3.  After  he  had  gone  on  for  some  time  in  this 
unintelligible  cant, I  found  I  hat  he  jumbled  natural 
and  moral  ideas  together  in  the  same  discourse* 
and  that  his  great  secret  was  nothing  else  but 

content* 

02 


168  THE    rOLAB    STAR. 

4.  This  virtue  does  indeed  produce,  in  some 
measure  all  those  effects  which  the  alchemist 
usually  ascribes  to  what  he  calls  the  philoso- 
pher's stone  ;  and  it"  it  does  not  bring  riches,  it 
does  the  same  thing,  by  banishing  the  desire  of 
them.  If  it  cannot  remove  the  disquietudes 
arising  out  of  a  man's  mind,  body  or  fortune* 
it  makes  them  easy  under  them.  It  has  indeed 
a  kindly  influence  on  the  soul  of  man,  in  respect 
of  every  being  to  whom  he  stands  related.  It 
extinguishes  all  murmur,  repining  and  ingrati- 
tude towaids  that  being  who  has  allotted  him  his 
part  to  act  in  this  world.  It  destroys  all  inor- 
dinate ambition,  and  every  tendency  to  corrup- 
tion, with  regard  to  the  community  wherein  he 
is  placed.  It  gives  sweetness  to  his  conversation, 
and  a  perpetual  serenity  to  all  his  thoughts. 

5.  Among  the  many  methods  which  might  be 
made  use  of  for  the   acquiring  of  this  virtue,  I 
should  only  mention   the  two  following.      First 
of  all,  a  man  should  always  consider  how  much 
lie  has  more  than  he  wants  :  and  secondly,  how 
much  more  unhappy  he  might  be  than  he  really  is, 

6.  Frst  of  ail,  a  man  should  always  consider 
bow  much   more  he  has  than  he  wants.     1  am 
wonderfully  pleased  with  the  reply  which  Aristip- 
pus  made  to  one  who  condoled  him  upon  the  loss 
of  a  farm  :  «*  Why,  said  he,  I  have  three  farms. 

and  ^ou  have  but  one ;    so  that  I  ought 


THE    POLAR    STAR. 

rather  to  be  afflicted  lor  you  than  you  for  me.'5 
On  the  contrary,  foolish  men  are  more  apt  to 
consider  what  they  have  lost  than  what  they  pos- 
sess ;  and  to  fix  their  eyes  upon  those  who  are 
richer  than  themselves,  rather  than  on  those 
who  are  under  greater  difficulties. 

7.  AH  the  real  pleasures  and  conveniencies  of 
life  lie  in  a  narrow  compass;  but  it  is  the  humour 
of  mankind  to  be  always  looking  forward,   and 
straining  after  one  who  has  got  the  start  of  them 
in   wealth    and    honour.      For   this  reason,   as 
there  are  none  can  be  properly  called  rich,  who 
have  not  more  than  they  want  ;  there  are  few 
rich  men  in  any  of  the  politer  nations  but  among 
the  middle  sort  of  people,  who  keep  their  wishes 
within  their  fortunes,  and    have   mope   wealth 
than  they  know  how  to  enjoy. 

8.  Persons  of  a  higher  rank  live  in  a  kind  of 
splendid  poverty  ;  and  are  perpetually  wanting, 
because,  instead   of    acquiescing   in    the   solid 
pleasures  of  life,   they  endeavour  to  outvie  one 
another  in  shadows  and   appearances.      Men  of 
sense  have  at  all  times  beheld   with  a  great  deal 
of  mirth  this   silly  game  that  is  playing   over 
their  heads,  and  by  contracting  their  desires  en* 
joy  all  that  secret  satisfaction  which  others  are 
always  in  quest  of. 

9.  The  truth  is,  this  ridiculous  chase  after  im- 
aginary pleasures  cannot  be  sufficiently  exposed, 


170  TfTE    POLAR   STAR, 

as  it  is  the  great  some**  of  those  evils  which 
generally  undo  a  nation.  Let  a  man's  estate  be 
what  St  will,  he  is  a  poor  man,  if  he  does  not  live 
within  it,  and  naturally  sets  himself  to  sale  to 
any  one  that  can  give  him  his  price* 

10.  When    Pittictis,    after  the    death   of  his 
brother,   who  had   left  him  a  good  estate,  was 
oflvred  a    greater  sum  of  money  by  the  king  of 
Lydia,  he  thanked  him  for  his  kindness,  hut  told 
him  he  had  already  more  by  half  than  he  knew 
what  to  do  with.     In  short  content  is  equivalent 
to  wealth,  and  luxury  to  poverty  ;  or,  to  give  the 
thought   a   more    agreeable  turn,     "  content  is 
natural    wealth,''    says   Socrates ;    to  which  I 
shall  add,  "  luxury  is  artificial  poverty." 

11.  I  shall  therefore  recommend  to  the  con- 
sideration of  those  who  are  always  aiming  after 
superfluous  and  imaginary  enjoyments,  and   will 
not  be  at  the  trouble  of  contracting  their  desires, 
an  excellent   saying  ol    Bion  the    philosopher  5 
namely,  "  That  no  man  has  so  much  care  as  he 
who  endeavours  after  the  most  happiness." 

12.  In  the    second   place,  every   one  ought  to 
reflect  how  much    more  unhappy  Me  might  be 
than  he   really  is.      The  former  consideration 
took  in  all  those  who  are  sufficiently  provided 
vrith  the  means  to  make  themselves  easy  ;  this, 
rega;d»  HUC!I  as  actually  lie  under  fcouie  pressure, 
or 


<FIIE   POLAR    STAR.  (  171 

IS*  These  may  receive  a  great  alleviation  from 
such  a  comparison  as  the  unhappy  person  may 
make  between  himself  and  otlu  rs,  or  between, 
the  misfortunes  which  he  suffers,  and  greater 
misfortunes  which  might  have  befallen  him. 

14.  I  like  the  story  of  the  honest  Dutchman* 
who,  upon  breaking  his  leg  by  a  fall  from  the 
main-mast,  told  the  standers  by,  it  was  a  great 
mercy  that  it  was  not  his  neck.     To  which,  since 
I  am  got  into  quotations,  give  me  leave  to  add  the 
saying  of  an  old  philosopher,  who,  after  having 
invited  some  of  his  friends  to  dine  with  him,  was 
ruffled  by  his  wife  that  came  into  the  room  in  a 
passion,   and   threw  down   the  table  that  stood 
before   them  ;    "  Every  one,  says  he,   has  his 
calamity,  and  he  is  a   happy  man  that  Las  no 
greater  than  this*" 

15.  \Ve  find  an  instance  to  the  same  purpose 
in  the   life  of  Doctor  Hammond,   written  by 
Bishop  Fell.      As  this  good  man  was  troubled 
with  a  complication  of  distempers,  when  he  had 
the  gout  upon  him,  he  used  to  thank  God  that  it  j 
was  not  the  stone  ;  and  when  he  had  the  stone, 
that  he  had  not  both  these  distempers  on  him  at 
the  same  time. 

16.  I  cannot  conclude  this  essay  without  ob- 
serving, that  there  was  never  any  system  besides 
that  of  Christianity,  which  could  effectually  pro- 
duce in  the  mind  of  man  the  virtue  1  have  been 


172  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

hitherto  speaking  of.  In  order  to  make  us  con- 
tent with  our  present  condition,  many  of  the 
present  philosophers  tell  us,  that  our  discontent 
only  hurts  ourselves,  without  heing  able  to  make 
an  alteration  in  our  circumstances  ;  others,  that 
what  evil  befals  us,  is  derived  to  us  by  a  fatal 
necessity,  to  which  the  gods  themselves  are  sub- 
ject ;  while  others  very  gravely  tell  the  man 
who  is  miserable,  that  it  is  necessary  he  should 
be  so  to  keep,  up  the  harmony  of  the  universe, 
and  that  the  scheme  of  Providence  would  be 
troubled  and  perverted  were  he  otherwise. 

17.  These  and  the  like  considerations,  rather 
silence  than  satisfy  a  man,     They  may  shew  him 
that  his  discontent  is  unreasonable,  but  are  by 
QO  means  sufficient  to  relieve  it.      They  rather 
give  dispair  than  consolation.   In  a  word,  a  man 
might  reply  to  one  of  these   comforters,  as  Au- 
gustus did  to  his  friend  who  advised  him  not  to 
grieve  for  the  death  of  a  person  whom  he  loved, 
because  his  grief  could  not  fetch  him  again  :  "  It 
is  for  that  very  reason,  said  the  emperor,  that  I 
grieve/5 

18.  On  the  contrary,  religion  bears  a  more 
tender  regard   to  human  nature.      It  prescribes 
to  a  very  miserable  man  the  means  of  bettering 
his  condition  ;  nay,  it  shews  him  that  the  bear- 
ing of  his  afflictions  as  he  ought  to  do,  will  na- 
turally end  in  the  removal  of  them  :  it  makes 


TftE   POLA11    STAB.  175 

him  easy  here,  Jbeeause  it  can  make  him  happy 
hereafter* 

19.  Upon  the  whole,  a  contented  mind  is  the 
greatest  blessing  a  man  can  enjoy  in  this  world  $ 
and  if  in  the  present  life  his  Happiness  arises 
from  the  subduing  his  desires,  it  wKl  arise  ia  the 
next  from  the  gratification  of  them. 


Charity.    Jl  paraphrase  on  tlie  ±3th  chapter  of 
the  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians. 

DID  sweeter  sounds  adorn  my  flowing  tongue, 
Than  ever  man  pronoune'd  or  angel  sung ; 
Had  I  all  knowledge,  human  and  divine, 
That  thought  can  reach,  or  sciefice  can  define ; 
And  had  I  pow'r  to  give  that  knowledge  birth, 
In  all  the  speeches  of  the  babbling  earth  ; 
Did  Shadrach's  zeal  my  glowing  breast  inspire. 
To  weary  tortures,  and  rejoice  in  fire  ; 
Or  had  I  faith  like  that  which  Israel  saw, 
When  Moses  gave  them  miracles,  and  law  : 
Yet,  gracious  charity,  indulgent  guest, 
Were  not  thy  pow'r  exerted  in  my  breast ; 
Those  speeches  would  send  up  unheeded  pray'r; 
That  scorn  of  life  would  be  but  wild  despair; 
A  cymbal's  sound  were  better  than  my  voice  ; 
My  faith  were  form  ;  my  eloquence  were  noise 


THE   POLAK    STAU. 

Charity,  decent,  modest,  easy,  kind, 
Softens  the  high,  and  rears  the  abject  mind; 
Knows  with  just  reitis*  and  gentle  hand,  to  guide 
Betwixt  viie  shame  and  arbitrary  pride. 
Not  soon  provok'd  she  easily  forgives; 
And  much  she  suffers,  as  she  much  believes. 
Soft  peace  she  brings  wherever  she  arrives  ; 
Sue  builds  our  quiet  as  ske  forms  our  lives  ; 
Lavs  the  rough  paths  of  peevish  nature  even; 
And  opens  in  each  heart*  a  little  heaven. 

Each  other  gift,  which  God  on  man  bestows* 
Its  proper  bounds,  and  due  restriction  knows; 
To  one  tix'd  purpose  dedicates  its  pow'r  ; 
And  finishing  its  act,  exists  no  more. 
Thus,  in  obedieree  to  what  Heaven  decrees, 
Knowledge  shall  fail,  and  prophecy  shall  cease  ; 
But  lasting  charity's  more  ample  sway, 
Nor  bound  by  time,  nor  subject  to  decay, 
In  happy  triumph  shall  for  ever  live, 
And  endless  good  diffuse,  and  endless  praise  re- 
ceive. 

As  through  the  artist's  intervening  glass, 
Our  eye  observes  the  distant  planets  pass ; 
A  little  we  discover ;  but  allow. 
That  move  remains  unseen,  than  art  can  show; 
So  whilst  our  mind  its  knowledge  would  improve, 
(Its  feeble  eye  intent  on  things  alove,) 
High  as  we  may,  we  lift  our  re^on  up, 
By  faith  directed,  ami  couiu  Wti  by  Lope  ; 


POLAR    STAR.  175 

Yet  are  we  able  only  to  survey, 
Dawnings  of  beams,  and  promises  of  day; 
Heaven's  fuller    effluence    mocks    our  dazzl'd 

sight ; 

Too  great  its  swiftness*  and  too  strong  its  light. 
But  soon  the  mediate  clouds  shall  be  dispel  I'd, 
The  sun  shall  soon  be  face  to  fuee  beheld, 
In  all  his  robes,  with  all  his  glory  on, 
Seated  sublime  on  his  meridian  throne, 
Then  constant  faith,  and  holy  hope  shall  die, 
One  lost  in  certainty,  and  one  joy; 
Whilst  thou,  more  happy  pow'r,  fair  charity, 
Triumphant  sister,  greatest  of  the  three, 
Thy  office,  and  thy  nature  still  the  same, 
Lasting  thy  lamp,  and  unconsum'd  thy  flames, 

Shalt  still  survive 

Shalt  stand  before  the  host  of  heav'n  confest, 
For  ever  blessing,  and  for  ever  blest. 


tfl  paraphrase  {on  tlie  look  of  Job — Supposed  % 
historians  to  be  as  much  greater  than  any  other 
verses  composed  on  any  part  of  the  Scriptures 
whatever — as  a  clap  of  thunder  is  louder  than 
a  whisper. 

Thrice  happy  Job,  long  liv'd  in  regal  state 
Nor  saw  the  sumptuous  earth  a  prince  so  grealj 
His  worldly  stores  in  such  abundance  flowed, 
His  heart  with  such  exalted  virtues  glow'd. 


176  THE    POLAR    STAB. 

At  length  misfortunes  took  their  turns  to  reign 
Then  ills  on  ills  succeed  a  dreadful  train  $ 
What  now  but  death  and  poverty  and  wrong, 
The    sword's    wide    wasting,   the    reproachful 

tongue. 
The  spotted  plagues  that  inark'd  his  limbs  all 

o'er, 

So  full  of  sores  they  wanted  room  for  more. 
A  change  so  sad  what  mortal  heart  could  bear, 
^Exhausted  wo  had  left  him  nought  to  fear; 
But  give  him  all  o'er  to  grief,  lo  earth  he  pressed 
Wept  in  the  dust  and  sorely  smote  his  breast, 
His  friends  all  round  the  deep  affliction  mourn'd, 
Felt   all  his  groans  and  pang  for  pang  returned ; 
In  anguish  of  their  breasts  their  mantles  rent, 
And  seven  long  days  in  solemn  silence  spent; 
A  debt  of  reverence  to  distress  so  great, 
Then  Job  contain'd  no  more  but  curs' d  his  fate. 
His  day  of  birth,  its  inauspicious  light, 
He  wishes  sunk  in  endless  shades  of  night, 
And  blotted  from  the  year  nor  fears  to  crave 
Death,  instant  death  impatient  for  the  grave. 
That  seat  of  peace,  that  mansion  of  repose, 
Where  rest  and  mortals  are  no  longer  foes. 
Where  counsellors  are  hush'd  and  mighty  kings 
O  happy  turn  no  more  are  wretched  things, 
His  words  were  daring  and  displeas'd  his  friends* 
His  conduct  they  reprov'd,  still  he  defends— 


THE   POLiR   STAR.  177 

Now  they  kindle  into  warm  debate, 
Their  sentiments  oppos'd  with  equal  heat. 
Fix'd  in  opinion  both  refuse  to  yield, 
A;id  summons  all  their  actions  to  tbe  field ; 
Their  arguments  at  length  so  far  was  brought. 
They  reached  the  last  extent  of  human  thought. 
A  pause  ensu'd,  at  length  heaven  interposed, 
And  awfully  the  long  contention  clos'd 
Full  o'er  their  heads  with  terrible  surprise* 
A  sudden  whirlwind  whieh  blacken'd  all  the  skies. 
They  saw  and  trembi'd  and  from  the  darkness 
broke, 

A  voice  of  terror  and  thus  the  Almighty  spoke. 
[Now  tfie  Almighty  speaks  to  Job  out  of  the 
whir  wind  as  follows:] 

Who  gives  his  voice  aloose  so  rude  and  vain, 

Censures  my  conduct  and  reproves  my  reign, 

Lifts  up  his  feeble  thought  against  me  from  the 
dust, 

And  tells  the  world's  creature  what  is  just. 

Where  didst  thou  dwell  at  nature's  early  birth? 

Who  laid  foundations  for  this  spacious  earth  ? 

Wrho  on  the  centre  did  extend  the  line, 

Its  form  determine  and  its  bulk  confine  ? 

Who  laid  that  corner  stone,  what  hand  declare, 

Fix'd  it  on  nought  and  fastened  it  on  air  ? 

Wlien  shouting  sons  of  God  the  triumph  crowned. 

And  the  wide  coneave  thunder'd  with  the  sonn&l. 


THE    POXAR   STAR. 

Who   beav'd  that    mountain  which    sublimely 

stands, 

Which  casts  its  shadow  into  distant  lands  ? 
When    stretching    forth   my     sceptre  o'er  the 

deep, 

Can  this  wild  world  in  due  subjection  keep  ? 
I  broke  the  globe  and  scop'd  its  hollow  side, 
And  did  a  basin  for  the  ilood  provide. 
I  ch&in'd  them  fast,  the  boiling  sea 
Wrought  up  in  tempest*  here's  my  great  decree. 
So  far  thy  floating  tide  shall  be  convey'd, 
And  here  bold  man  be  thy  proud  billows  siaid. 
Hast  thou  expior'd  the  secrets  of  the  deep, 
Where  hid  from  use  unnumbered  treasures  sleep  ? 
More  than  one  thousand  fathoms  from  the  day, 
Springs  that  great  mother  fountain  of  the  sea. 
Those  gloomy   mansions  did  thy  bold  foot  e'er 

tread 
Whole  worlds  of  water  rolling  o'er  thy  head. 


Exercise  and  temperance  the  lest  preservative 
of  health. 

BODILY  labour  is  of  two  kinds,  either  that 
which  a  man  submits  to  for  his  livelihood,  or 
that  which  he  undergoes  for  his  pleasure.  The 
latter  of  them  generally  changes  the  name  of 
labour  for  that  of  exercise,  but  differs  only  from 


THE   POLAR   STAB*  179 

ordinary  labour  as  it  rises  from  another  motive* 
A  country  life  abounds  in  both  these  kinds  of 
labour,  and  for  that  reason  gives  a  man  a  great- 
er stock  of  health,  and  consequently  a  more  per- 
fect enjoyment  of  himself,  than  any  other  way  of 
life. 

2.  I  consider  the  body  as  a  system  of  tubes  and 
glands,  or  to  use  a  more  rustic  phrase,  a  bundle 
of  pipes  and  strainers,  fitted  to  one  another  after 
so  wonderful  a  manner,  as  to  make  a  proper  en- 
gine for  the  soul  to  work  with.      This  descrip- 
tion   does     not   only   comprehend    the  bowels, 
bones,  tendons,  veins,  nerves  and  arteries,  but 
every  muscle  and  every  ligature,  which  is  a  com- 
position of  fibres,  that  are  so  many  imperceptible 
tubes  or   pipes  interwoven   on  all  sides  with  in- 
visible glands  or  strainers. 

3.  This  general  idea  of  a  human  body,  with- 
out considering  it  in  its  niceties  of  anatomy,  lets 
us  see  how  absolutely  necessary  labour  is  for  the 
right  preservation  of  it.      There  must   be  fre- 
quent   motions  and  agitations,  to   mix,   digest, 
and  separate  the  juices  contained  in  if,  as  well 
as  to  clear  and  cleanse  that  infinitude  of  pipes 
and   strainers  of  whieh    it  is  composed,   and  to. 
give  their  solid  parts  a   more  firm  and   lasting 
tone.     Labor  or  exercise  ferments  the  h  wsouis, 
easts  them  into  their  proper  channels,  throws  oli'" 
^redundancies,  and  helps  nature  in  those  secret 


180  THE    POLAR    STAR. 

distributions,  without  which  the  body  cannot 
subsist  in  its  vigour,  nor  the  soul  act  with  cheer- 
fulness. 

*.  I  might  here  mention  the  effects  which  this 
has  upon  all  the  faculties  of  the  mi  ml,  by  keep- 
ing the  understanding  clear,  the  imagination 
untroubled,  and  refining  those  spirits  that  are 
necessary  for  the  proper  exertions  of  our  intel- 
lectual faculties,  during  the  present  laws  of 
union  between  soul  and  body.  It  is  to  a  neglect 
in  this  particular  that  we  must  ascribe  the  spleen, 
which  is  so  frequent  in  men  of  studious  and  se- 
dentary tempers,  as  well  as  the  vapours  to  which 
those  of  the  other  sex  are  so  often  subject. 

5.  Had  not  exercise  Jjeen  absolutely  necessary 
for  OUT  well-being,  nature  would  not  have  made 
the  body  so  proper  for  it,  by  giving  such  an  ac- 
tivity to  the  limbs,  and  such  a  pliancy  to  every 
part ?  as  necessarily  produce  those  compressions^ 
extensions,  contortions,  dilatations,  and  all  other 
kinds  of  motions,  that  are  necessary  for  the  pre- 
servation of  such  a  system  of  tubes  and  glands  as 
lias  been  before- mentioned.  And  that  we  might 
not  want  inducements  to  engage  us  in  such  an 
exercise  of  the  body  as  is  proper  for  its  welfare, 
it  is  so  ordered,  that  nothing  valuable  can  be 
procured  without  it. — Not  to  mention  riches  and 
honour,  even  food  and  raiment  are  not  to  be 


THE   POLAR    3TATI.  181 

come  at  without  the  toil  of  the  hands  ami  s^eat 
of  the  brows. 

6.  Providence  furnishes  materials,  but  expect* 
that  we  should  work   them  up  ourselves.      The 
earth   must  be   laboured  before  it  gives  its  in- 
crease, and  when  it  is  forced  into  its  several  pro- 
duets,  how  many  hands  must   they  pass  through 
before    they  are  fit    for  use  ?      Manufactures, 
trade,  and   agriculture,  naturally  employ  more 
than   nineteen   parts  of  the   species  in  twenty  ; 
and  as  for  those  who  are  not   obliged  to  labour, 
by  the  condition  in  which  they  are  born,  they  are 
more  miserable  than  the  rest  of  mankind,  unless 
they  indulge  themselves  in  that  voluntary  labour 
which  goes  by  the  name  of  exercise. 

7.  My  friend  Sir  Roger  hath  been  an  indefatiga- 
ble  man  in    business   of  this  kind,  and   has  hung 
several  parts   of  his  house  with   the  trophies  of 
bis  former  labours.     The  walls  of  his  great  hall 
are  covered   with  the  horns  of  the  several  kinds 
of  deer  that  he  has  killed  in  ihe  chase,  which  he 
thinks  the  most  valuable  furniture  of  his  house, 
as  they  afford   him  frequent  topics  of  discourse, 
and  shew  that  he  has  not  been  idle* 

8.  At  the  lower  end  of  the  hall  is  a  large  ot- 
ter's  skin  stuffed   with  hay,   which   his  mother 

oidercd  to  be  hung  up  in  that  manner,  and  the 
knight  looks  upon  it  with  great  satisfaction,  be- 
cause  it  seems  he  was  but  nine  years  old 


IS  2  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

his  dog  killed  him.  A  little  room  adjoining  to 
the  hail  is  a  kind  of  arsenal  filled  with  guns  of 
several  sizes  and  inventions,  with  which  the 
knight  has  made  great  havock  in  the  woods,  and 
destroyed  many  thousands  of  pheasants,  pat- 
ridges  and  woodcocks.  His  stable  doors  are 
patched  with  noses  that  belonged  to  foxes  of  the 
knight's  own  hunting  down. 

9.  Sir  Roger  shewed  me  one  of  them  that,  for 
distinction  sake,  has  a  brass  nail  struck  through 
it,  which   cost  him  about  fifteen  hours  riding, 
carried  him  through  half  a  do^en  counties,  kil- 
led him  a  brace  of  gildings,  and  lost  about  half 
his  dogs.     This  the  knight  looks  upon  as  one  of 
the  greatest  exploits  of  his  life. 

10.  The  perverse  widow,  whom  I  have  given 
some  account  of,  was  the  death  of  several  foxes  ; 
for  Sir  Roger  has  told  me,  that  in  the  course  of 
his  amours  he  patched  the  western  door  of  his 
stable.     Whenever  the   widow   was   cruel,   the 
foxes  were  sure  to  pay  for  it.     In  proportion  as 
his  passion   for  the   widow  abated  and  old  age 
came  on,  he  left  off  fox  hunting ;  but  a  hare  is 
not  yet  safe  that  sits  within   ten  miles  of  his 
house. 

11.  There  is  no  kind  of  exercise  which  I  would 
so  recommend  to  my    readers  of  both  sexes  as 
this  of  riding,  as  there  is  none  which   so  much 

to  health;  and  is  every  way 


THE  POLAR   STAR.  183 

dated  to  the  body,  according  to  the  idea  which  I 
have  given  of  it.  Dr.  Sydetiham  is  very  lavish 
in  its  praises  ;  and  if  the  English  reader  will  see 
the  mechanical  effects  of  it  described  at  length, 
he  may  find  them  in  a  book  published  not  many 
years  since,  under  the  title  of  Medicina  Gymnas- 
tica. 

12.  For  my  own  part  when  I  am  in  town,  for 
want  of  these  opportunities,  I  exercise  myself  an 
hour  every   morning  upon  a  dumb  bell  that  is 
placed  in  a  corner  of  my  room,  and  pleases   me 
the   more  because  it  does  every  thing  I  require 
in  the  most  profound  silence.     My  landlady  and 
her  daughters  are  so  well  acquainted  with  my 
hours  of  exercise,  that  they  never  come  into  my 
voosii  to  disturb  me  whilst  I  am  ringing. 

13.  When   I  was   some  years  younger  than  I 
am  at  present  I  used  to  employ  myself  in  a  mere 
laborious   diversion,   which    I   learned   from   a 
Latin  treatise   of  exercise,  that  is  written  with 
great  erudition :  It  is  there  called  the  sham  ex- 
ercise, or  the  fighting  with  a  man's  own  shadow, 
and  consists  in  the  brandishing  of  two  short  sticks 
grasped  in  each  hand*  and  loaded  with  plugs   of 
lead  at  either  end.      This  opens  tbc  chest,  exer- 
cises the  limbs,  and  gives  a  man  all  the  pleasure 
of  boxing,  without  the  blows. 

14.  I  could   wish  that   several  learned   men 
would  Jay  out  that  time  which  they  employ  in 


THE   POLAR    STAK. 

controversies  and  disputes  about  nothing,  in  this 
method  of  lighting  with  their  own  shadows.  It 
might  conduce  very  much  to  evaporate  the 
spleen,  which  makes  them  uneasy  to  the  public 
as  well  as  to  themselves. 

As  I  am  a  compound  of  soul  and  body,  I  con- 
sider myself  as  obliged  to  a  double  scheme  of  du- 
ties; and  think  I  have  not  fulfilled  the  business 
of  the  day  when  I  do  not  thus  employ  the  one  in 
labour  and  exercise,  as  well  as  the  other  in  study 
and  contemplation, 

15.  There  is  a  story  in  the  Arabian  Nights 
Tales,  of  a  king  who  had  long  languished  under 
an  ill  habit  of  body,  and  had  taken  abundance  of 
remedies  to  no  purpose.     At   length,   says  the 
fable   a  physician   cured  him  by  the  following 
method  :  he  took  an  hollow   ball   of  wood,  and 
filled  it  with  several  drugs  \  after  which  he  clos- 
ed it  up  so  artificially  that  nothing  appeared. 
He  likewise  took  a  mall,  and  after  having  hol- 
lowed the  handle,  and   that  part   which  strikes 
the   ball,  inclosed  in   them   several  drugs  after 
the  same  manner  as  in  the  ball  itself. 

16.  He  then  ordered  the   sultan  who  was  his 
patient  to  exercise  himself  early  in  the  morning 
with   these   rightly   prepared   instruments,    till 
such  time  as  he  should  sweat ;  when  as  the  story 
goes,  the  virtue  of  the   medicaments  perspiring 
through  the  wood,  had  so  good  an  influence  o^i 


THE   POL4R   STAR-  185 

the  sultan's  constitution  that  they?  cured  him  of 
an  indisposition  which  all  the  compositions  he 
had  taken  inwardly  had  not  been  able  to  re- 
move. 

17.  This  eastern  allegory  is  finely  contrived 
to  show  us  how   beneficial   bodily   labour  is  to 
health,   and  that   exercise  is  the  most  effectual 
physic.      I  have  described  in   my  hundred  and 
fifteenth  paper,  from  the  general    structure  and 
mechanism  of  an  human  body,  how  absolutely 
necessary  exercise  is  for  its  preservation  ;  I  ahall 
in  this  place  recommend  another  great  preserva- 
tive of  health,  which  in  many  cases  produces  the 
same  effect  as  exercise,  and  may  in  some  mea- 
sure, supply  its  place,  where  oportunities  of  ex- 
ercise are  wanting. 

18.  The  preservative  I  am  speaking  of  is  tem- 
perance, which  has  those  particular  advantages 
above  all  other  means  of  health,  that  it  may  be 
practised  by  all  ranks  and   conditions,  at   any 
season,  or  in  any  place.     It  is  a  kind  of  regimen 
into  which  every  man  may  put  himself,  without 
interruption  to  business,  expence  of  money,  or 
loss  of  time.     If  exercise  throw  s  off  all  superflu- 
ities,   temperance    prevents  them  :  if  exercise 
clears  the  vessels,  temperance  neither  satiates 
•or  over-strains  them  :  if  exercise  raises  proper 
ferments  in  the  humours,  and  promotes  the  cir- 
culation of  the  biood^  temperance  gives  nature 


186  THE   rOLAll   STAH. 

her  full  play,  and  enables  her  to  exert  herself 
in  all  her  force  and  vigour :  If  exercise  dissi- 
pates a  growing  distemper,  temperance  starves 
it. 

19.  Physic,  for  the  most  part,  is  nothing  else 
but  the   substitute  of  exercise   or  temperance. 
Medicines   are  indeed   absolutely  necessary   in- 
acute  distempers,  that   cannot  wait    the    slow 
operation    of  these  two  great   instruments    of 
health  :  but  did  men  live  in  an  habitual   course 
of  exercise  and  temperance,  there  would  be  but 
little  occasion  for  them.      Accordingly  we  fmtl 
that  those    parts  of  the   world   are  the  most 
healthy,  where  they  subsist  by  the  chase  ;  and 
that  men  lived  longest  when  there  lives  were  em- 
ployed in  hunting,  and  when  they  had  little  food 
besides  what  they  caught. 

20.  Blistering,  cupping, bleeding, are  seldomof 
use  to  the  idle  and  intemperate ;  as  all  those  inward 
applications,  which   are    so   much  in    practice 
among  us,  are,  for  the  most  part,  nothing  else 
but  expedients  to   make  luxury   consistent  with 
health.     The  apothecary  is  perpetually  employ- 
ed in  countermining  the  cook  and  the  vintner. 
It  is  said  of  Diogenes,  that  meeting  a  young  man 
who  was  going  to  a  feast,  he  taok  him  up  in  the 
street,  and  carried  him   home  to  his  friends,  as 
one  who  was  running  into  imminent  danger,  had 
he  not  prevented  him. 


THE    rOSdAIi    STAfc. 

21.  "What  would  that  philosopher  have  said, 
fiad  he  been  present  at  the  gluttony 'of  a  modern 
meal  ?  would  not  he  have  thought  the  master  of 
a  family  mad,  and  have  begged  his  servant  to  tie 
down  his  hands,  had  he  seen  him  devour  fowl, 
fish,  and  flesh  ;  swallow  oil  and  vinegar,  vdnes 
and  spices  ;  throw  down  salads  of  twenty  differ- 
ent herbs,  sauces  of  an  hundred  ingredients,  con- 
fections and  fruits  of  numberless  sweets  and 
flavours  ?  what  unnatural  motions  and  counter- 
ferments  must  such  a  medley  of  intemperance 
produce  in  the  body?  for  my  part,  when  I  be- 
liold  a  fashionable  table  set  out  in  all  its  magnifi- 
cence, I  fancy,  that  I  see  gouts  and  dropsies, 
fevers  and  lethargies,  with  other  innumerable 
distempers,  lying  in  ambuscade  among  the 
dishes. 

22.  Nature  delights  in  the  most  plain  and 
simple  diet.  Every  animal  but  man,  keeps  to 
t>ne  dish.  Herbs  are  the  food  of  this  species, 
fish  of  that,  and  flesh  of  a  third.  Man  falls  up- 
on every  thjng  that  comes  in  his  way  ;  not  the 
smallest  fruit  or  excrescence  of  the  earth,  scarce 
a  berry,  or  a  mushroom,  can  escape  him. 

It  is  impossible  to  lay  down  any  determinate 
rule  for  temperance,  because  what  is  luxury  in 
one  may  be  temperance  in  another;  but  there 
are  few  that  have  lived  any  time  in  the  world, 
\vho  are  not  judges  of  their  own  constitutions.? 


• 


188  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

so  far  as  to  know  what  kinds  and  what  propor- 
tions of  food  do  best  agree  with  them, 

23.  Were  I  to  consider  my  readers  as  ray  pa- 
tients, and  to  prescribe  such  a  kind  of  temper- 
ance as  is  accommodated  to  all  persons,  and  such 
as  is  particularly  suitable  to  our  climate  and 
way  of  living,  I  would  copy  the  following  rules 
of  a  very  eminent  physician.  Make  your  whole 
repast  out  of  one  dish.  If  you  indulge  in  a  se- 
cond, avoid  drinking  any  thing  strong  till  you 
have  finished  your  meal :  at  the  same  time  ab- 
stain from  all  sauces,  or  at  least  such  as  are  not 
the  most  plain  and  simple. 

2*.  A  man  could  not  be  well  guilty  of  glut- 
tony, if  he  stuck  to  these  few  obvious  and  easy 
rules.  In  the  first  case,  there  would  be  no  va- 
"riety  of  tastes  to  solicit  hi&  palate,  and  occasion 
excess ;  nor  in  the  second  any  artificial  provoca- 
tions to  relieve  satiety,  and  create  a  false  appe- 
tite. Were  I  to  prescribe  a  rule  for  drinking,  it 
should  be  formed  upon  a  saying  quoted  by  Sir 
"William  Temple  ;  Tliejirst  glass  for  myself,  the 
second  for  my  friends,  the  third  for  good  hu- 
mour, and  the  fourth  for  my  enemies.  But  be- 
cause-it  is  impossible  for  one  who  lives  in  the 
world  to  diet  himself  always  in  so  philosophical 
a  manner,  I  think  every  man  should  have  his 
days  of  abstinence,  according  as  his  constitution 
Tvill  permit. 


THE    POLAR    STAR. 

25.  These  are  great  reliefs  to  nature,  as  they 
qualify    her  for    struggling    with    hunger  and 
thirst,   whenever    any  distemper  or  duty  of  life 
may  put  tier  upon  such  difficulties  ;    and  at  the 
same  time  give   her  an  opportunity  of  extricat- 
ing herself  from  her  oppressions,  and  recovering 
the  several    tones  and  springs  of  her  distended 
vessels.       Besides   that,    abstinence    well-timed 
often  kills  a  sickness  in  embryo,  and  destroys  the 
first  seeds  of  an  indisposition. 

26.  It  is  observed  by  two  or  three  ancient  au- 
thors, that  Socrates,  notwithstanding  he  lived  in 
Athens  during  that  great  plague,   which   has 
made  so  much  noise  through  all  ages,  and  has 
been  celebrated  at  different  times  by  such  emi- 
nent hands  ;  I  say,  notwithstanding  that  he  lived* 
in  the  time  of  this  devouring  pestilence,  he  never 
caught  the   least  infection,  which  those  writers 
unanimously  ascribe  to  that  uninterrupted  tem- 
perance which  he  always  observed. 

27.  And  here  I  cannot  but  mention  an  obser- 
vation which  I   have   often  made,   upon  reading 
the   lives   of  the    philosophers,    and  comparing 
them  with  any  series   of  kings  or  great  men  of 
the  same  number.     If  we  consider  these  ancient 
sages,  u  great  part  of  whose  philosophy  consist- 
ed in  a  temperate  and  abstemious  course  of  iife> 
one  would  think  the  life  of  a  philosopher  and  the 
life  of  a  man  were  of  two  different  dates.    Foi 


190  THE   POLAR    STAR, 

\ve  find,  that  the  generality  of  these  wise  men 
were  nearer  a  hundred  than  sixty  jears  of  age 
at  the  time  of  their  respective  deaths. 

28.  But  the  most  remarkable  instance  of  the 
efficacy  of  temperance  towards  the  procuring  of 
long  life,  is  what  we  meet  with  in  a  little  book 
published  by  Lewis  Cornarothe  Venetian;  which 
1  the  rather  mention,  because  it  is  of  undoubted 
credit,  as   the  late  Venetian   ambassador,   who 
was  of  the  same  family,  attested  more  than  once 
in  conversation,   when   he  resided  in  England* 
Cornaro,  who  was  the  Author  of  the  little  trea- 
tise I  am  mentioning,  was  of  an  infirm  constitu- 
tion, till  about  forty,  when   by  obstinately   pre- 
sisfing  in  an  exact  course  of  temperance,  he  re- 
covered   a  perfect    stale    of  health  ;  insomuch 
that  at  fourscore  he  published  his  book  which  has 
been  translated  into   English,  under  the  title  of 
Sure  and  certain  ui&ihods  of  attaining  a  long  and 
licaltltij  life. 

29.  He  lived  to  give  a  third  or  fourth  edition 
of  it,  and  after  having  passed  his  hundredth  year, 
died   without  pain  or   agony,  and  like   one  who 
falls  asleep.      The   treatise  I  mention   has  been 
taken  notice  of  by  several    eminent  authors,  and 
is  written  with  such  a  spirit  of  cheerfulness,  re- 
ligion and  good    sense,  as  are  the  natural  con- 
comitants   of  temperance    and   sobriety,      The 
mix  hire  of  the  old  man  in  it  is  rather  a  recom- 
mendation than  a  discredit  to  it. 


THE  POLAR    STAR.  491 

ON  THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  A  CHEER- 
FUL  TEMPER. 

1.  CHEERFULNESS  is  in  the  first  place  the 
best  promoter  of  health.      Repining  and  secret 
murmurs  of  heart  give  imperceptible  strokes  to 
those  delicate  fibres  of  which  the  vital  parts  are 
composed,  and -wear  out  the  machine  so  insensi- 
bly ;    not  to    mention   those     violent    ferments 
which  they  stir  up  in  the  bloody  and  those  irregu- 
lar disturbed  motions,  which  they  raise  in  the  an* 
imal  spirits. 

2.  I  scarce  remember  in  my  own  observation^ 
to  have  met  with  many  o'd  m  -n,  or  with  such,  who* 
(to  use  our  English  phrase)  were  well,  that  had  not 
at  least  a  certain  indolence  in  their  humour,  if  not 
>  more  than  ordinary  gaiety  and  cheerfulness  of 
heart.      The  truth  of  it  is,  health  and  cheerful- 
ness mutually  beget  each  other;  with  this  differ- 
ence,  that   we  seldom  meet  with  a  g/eat  degree 
of  health   which  is  not  attended  with   a  certain 
cheerfulness*,  but    very   oftozi   scv,    cheerfulness 
\vliere  there  is  no  great  degree  of  health. 

3.  Cheerfulness  b^ars  the  saw  frierul'y  re- 
gard to  the  mind  as  to  the  body  :  it  b ;  iishrs  all 
anxious  care  a  J<1  discontent,  sooths  and  co/ii* 
po.s's  i  iie  pa**itms,  a.id  keeps  the  soul  in  a  per- 
petual calm*  iiut,  having  already 


193  THE   POIAR  STAIt. 

tliis  last  consideration,  I  shall  here  take  notice* 
that  the  world,  in  which  we  are  placed,  is  filled 
with  innumerable  ohjeets  that  are  proper  to  raise 
and  keep  alive  this  happy  temper  of  mind. 

&.  If  we  consider  the  world  in  its  subserviency 
to  man,  one  would  think  it  was  made  for  our  use; 
but  if  we  consider  It  in  its  natural  beauty  and 
harmony,"  one  would  be  apt  to  conclude  that  it 
was  made  for  our  pleasure.  The  him,  which  is 
as  the  great  soul  of  the  universe,  and  produces 
all  the  necessaries  of  life,  has  a  particular  influ- 
ence in  cheering  the  mind  of  man,  and  making 
the  heart  glad. 

5.  Those  several  living  creatures  which  are 
made  for  our  service  or  sustenance,  at  the  same 
time  either  fill  the  woods  with  their  music,  fur- 
nish us  with  game,  or  raise  pleasing  ideas  hi  us 
by   the   delightfulness    of  their   appearance. — 
Fountains,  lakes,  and  rivers,  are  as  refreshing  to 
the  imagination,  as   to  the  soil  through   which 
they  pass. 

6.  There  are  writers  of  great  distinction,  who 
have  made  it  an  argument  for  Providence,  that 
the  whole  earth  is  covered   with  green,  rather 
than  with  any  other  colour,  as  being  such  a  right 
mixture  of  light  and  shade,  that  it  comforts  and 
strengthens  the  eye   instead   of  weakening  or 
grieving  it.      For  this   reason  several  painters 
have  a  green  cloth  hanging  near  them,  to  case 


THE    POLAR    STAR,  ±95 

the  eye  upon   after  too  great  an  application  to 
their  colouring. 

7.  A  famous  modern  philosopher  accounts  for 
it  in  the  following  manner;  all  colours  that  arc 
more  luminous,  overpower  and  dissipate  the  arn- 
mal  spirits  which  are  employed  in  sight :  on  the 
contrary,  those  that  are  more  obscure  do  not 
give  the  animal  spirits  a  sufficient  exercise; 
whereas  the  rays  that  produce  in  us  the  idea  of 
green,  fall  upon  the  eye  in  such  a  due  propor- 
tion, that  they  give  the  animal  spirits  their  pro- 
per play,  and,  by  keeping  up  the  struggle  in  a  just 
balance,  excite  a  very  pleasing  and  agreeable 
sensation.  Let  the  cause  he  what  it  will,  the 
effect  is  certain  ;  for  which  reason  the  poets  as- 
eribe  to  this  particular  colour  the  epithet  of 
cheerful. 

8.  To  consider  flirt  her  this  double  end  in  the 
works  of  nature,  and  how  they  are,  at  the  same 
time,  both  useful  and  entertaining,  we  find  that 
the  most  important  parts  in  the  vegetable  world 
£re  those  whk'h  are  the  most  beautiful.  These 
are  the  seeds  by  which  the  several  races  of  plants 
are  propagated  and  continued,  and  which  are 
always  lodged  in  flowers  or  blossoms.  Nature 
seems  to  hide  her  principal  design,  and  to  be  in- 
dustrious in  making  the  earth  guy  and  delight- 
ful, while  she  is  carrying  on  h*»r  great  work,  and 
upoaher  own  preservation.  The  bus- 


194  THE    POLAR   STAR. 

bandnian,  after  the  same  manner,  is  employed  in 
laying  out  the  whole  country  into  a  kind  of  gar- 
den or  landscape,  and  making  every  thing  smile 
about  him,  whilst,  in  reality,  he  thinks  of  nothing 
but  the  harvest  and  increase  which  is  to  arise 
from  it. 

9.  We  may  further  observe  how  Providence 
has  taken  care  to  keep  up  this  cheerfulness  in 
the  mind  of  man,  by  having  formed  it  after  such 
a  manner,  as  to  make  it  capable  of  conceiving 
delight  from  several  objects  which  seem  to  have 
very  little  use  in  them  ;.  as  from  the  wildness  of 
rocks  and  deserts,  and  the  like  grotesque  parts 
of  nature.  Those  who  are  versed  in  philosophy 
may  still  carry  this  consideration  higher  by  ob- 
serving, that,  if  matter  had  appeared  to  us  en- 
dovved  only  with  those  r*eal  qualities  which  it  ac«- 
tually  possesses,  it  would  have  made  but  a  very 
joyless  and  uncomfortable  figure;  and  why  has 
Providence  given  it  a  power  of  producing  in  us 
such  imaginary  qualities,  as  tastes  and  colours, 
sounds  and  smells,  heat  and  cold,  but  that  man, 
while  he  is  conversant  in  the  lower  stations  of 
nature,  might  have  his  mind  cheered  and  delight- 
ed with  agreeable  sciibiuions  ?  In  short,  the 
whole  universe  is  a  kind  of  theatre  fi  Jed  with  ob- 
jects that  either  raise  in  us  pleasure,  amuse- 

or  admiration. 

The  reader's  own   thoughts-  will  s 


THE    POLAR    STAR.  195 

to  him  the  vicissitude  of  day  and  night,  the 
change  of  seasons,  with  all  that  variety  of  scenes 
whit  h  diversify  the  face  of  nature,  and  fill  the 
mind  \vitha  perpetual  succession  of  beautiful  and 
pleasing  images. 

I  shall  not  here  mention  the  several  entertain- 
ments of  art,  with  the  pleasures  of  friendship* 
hooks,  conversation,  and  other  accidental  diver- 
sions of  life,  because  I  would  only  take  notice  of 
such  incitements  to  a  cheerful  temper,  as  offer 
themselves  to  persons  of  all  ranks  and  conditions, 
and  which  may  sufficiently  shew  us,  that  Provi- 
dence did  not  design  this  world  should  be  filled 
Avith  murmurs  and  repinings,  or  that  the  heart 
of  man  should  be  involved  in  gloom  and  melan- 
choly. 

11.  I  the  more  inculcate  this  cheerfulness   of 
temper,  as  it  is  H  virtue  in  which  our  countrymen 
are  observed  to  be  more  deficient  than  any  other 
nation.      Melancholy  is  a  kind   of  demon  that 
haunts  our  island,  and  often  conveys  herself  to  us 
in  an  easterly  wind.     A  celebrated  French  nov- 
elist, in  opposition  to  those  who  begin  their  ro- 
mances with  a  flowery  season  of  the  year,  enters 
on  his  story  thus  ;  In  the  gloomy  month  of  No- 
vember, when  the  people  of  England  hang  and 
drown  themselves,  a  disconsolate  lorer  walked 
out  into  thejield,  &c. 

12.  Every  one  ought  to  fence  agaiastthe  tern- 


196  THE   POLAR    STAR. 

per  of  his  climate  or  constitution,  and  frequently 
to  indulge  in  himself  those  considerations  which 
may  give  him  a  serenity  of  mind,  arid  enahle  him 
to  bear  up  cheerfully  against  those  little  evils  and 
misfortunes  which  are  common  to  human  nature, 
and  which,  by  a  right  improvement  of  them, 
will  produce  a  satiety  of  joy,  and  an  uninterrupt- 
ed happiness. 

13.  At  the  same  time  that  I  would  engage  my 
reader  to  consider  the  world  in  its  most  agree- 
able lights,  I  must  own  there  are  many  evils 
which  naturally  spring  up  amidst  the  entertain- 
ments that  are  provided  for  us;  but  these,  if 
rightly  considered,  should  be  far  from  overcast- 
ing the  mind  with  sorrow,  or  destroying  that 
cheerfulness  of  temper  which  I  have  been  re- 
commending. 

14<.  This  interspersion  of  evil  with  good,  and 
pain  with  pleasure,  in  the  works  of  nature,  is  fery 
truly  ascribed  by  Mr.  Locke  in  his  Essay  upon 
Human  Understanding,  to  a  moral  reason,  in  the 
following  words  : 

Beyond  all  this,  we  may  find  another  reason 
why  God  hath  scattered  up  and  down  several  de- 
grees of  pleasure  and  pain,  in  all  the  things  that 
environ  and  affect  us,  and  blended  them  togetltcr, 
in  almost  all  that  our  thoughts  and  senses  hare 
to  do  with  :  that  we  finding  imperfection,  dissat- 
isfaction, and  want  of  complete  happiness  in  all 


POLAR    STAK,  197 


the  enjoyments  which  ih&  creatures  can  afford  us, 
might  he  led  to  seek  it  in  the  rnjoyw.ini  #f]iim9 
vt\  \\  whom  there  is  fulness  of  joy,  and  at  whose 
right  haud  are  pleasures  for  evermore. 


OF  CHEERFULNESS. 

1.  I  HAVE  always  preferred  cheerfulness  to 
mirth.     The  latter  I  consider  as  an  act,  the  for- 
mer as  a  habit  of  the  mind.     Mirth  is  short  and 
transient,     cheerfulness    fixed   and    permanent. 
Those  are  often  raised  into  the  greatest  trans- 
ports of  mirth,  who  are  subject  to  the  greatest 
depressions    of    melancholy:    on    the   contrary, 
cheerfulness  though  it  does  not  give  the  mind 
such  an   exquisite   gladness*  prevents   us   from 
falling  into  any  depths  of  sorrow.     Mirth  is  like 
a  flash  of  lightning  that  breaks  through  a  gloom 
of  clouds,  and  glitters   for  a  moment ;  cheerful- 
ness keeps  up  a  kind  of  day-light  in  the  mind, 
and  fills  it  with  a  steady  and  perpetual  serenity. 

2.  Men  of  austere  principles  look  upon  mirth 
as  too  wanton  and  dissolute  for  a  state  of  proba- 
tion, and  as  filled  with  a  certain  triumph  and  in- 
solence of  heart  that  is  inconsistent  with  a  life 
which  is  every  moment  obnoxious  to  the  greatest 
dangers.      Writers  of  this  complexion  have  ob- 


198  THE    POLAR    STAU. 

served,  that  the  sacred  person  who  was  the  great 
pattern  of  perfection,  was  never  seen  to  laugh. 

3.  Cheerfulness  of  mind  is  not  liable  to  any  of 
these  exceptions ;  it  is  of  a  serious  and  compos- 
ed nature  ;  it    does   not  throw  the  mind  into  a 
condition  improper  tor  the  present  state  of  hu- 
manity, and  is  very  conspicuous   in  the  charac- 
ters of  those  who  are  looked  upon  as  the  greatest 
philosophers  among  the  heathens,  as  well  as  a- 
jnong  those  who  have  been  deservedly  esteemed 
as  saints  and  holy  men  among  Christians. 

4.  If  we  consider  cheerfulness  in  three  lights, 
with  regard  to  ourselves,  to  those  we  converse 
with,  and  to  the  great  Author  of  our  being,  it 
will  not  a  little  recommend  itself  on  each  of  these 
accounts.     The  man  who  is  possessed  of  this  ex- 
cellent frame  of  mind,  is  not   only  easy  in  his 
thoughts,  but  a  perfect  master  of  all  the  powers 
and  faculties  of  the  soul :  his  imagination  is  al- 
ways clear,  and  his  judgment  undisturbed :  his 
temper  is  even  and  unruffled,  whether  in  action 
or  solitude.     He  comes  with  a  relish  to  all  those 
goods  which  nature  has  provided  for  him,  tastes 
all  the  pleasures  of  the  creation  which  are  pour- 
ed about  him,  and  does  not  feel  the  full  weight 
of  those  accidental  evils  which  may  befal  him. 

5.  If  we  consider  him  in  relation  to  the  per- 
sons whom  he  converses  with,  it  naturally  pro- 
duces love  and  good  will  towards  him.     A  cheer- 


i'HB  POLAU   STAU.  19<J 

ful  mind  is  not  only  disposed  to  be  affable  and 
obliging,  but  raises  the  same  good  humour  in 
those  who  come  within  its  influence.  A  man 
finds  himself  pleased  he  does  not  know  why,  with 
the  cheerfulness  of  the  companion  :  it  is  like  a 
sudden  sun-shine  that  awakens  a  secret  delight 
in  the  mind,  without  her  attending  to  it.  The 
heart  rejoices  of  its  own  accord,  and  naturally 
flows  out  into  friendship  and  benevolence  towards 
the  person  who  has  so  kindly  an  effect  upon  it. 

6.  When  I  consider  this  cheerful  state  of  mind 
in  its  third  relation,  I  cannot  but  look  upon  it  as 
a  constant  habitual  gratitude  to  the  great  Author 
of  nature.     An  inward  cheerfulness  is  an  implicit 
praise  and  thanksgiving  to  Providence  under  all 
its  dispensations.      It  is  a  kind  of  acquiescence 
in  the  state  wherein  we  are  placed,  and  a  secret 
approbation  of  the  Divine  will  in  his  conduct  to- 
\vards  man. 

7.  There  are  but  two  things,  which,  in  my  o- 
pinion,  can  reasonably  deprive  us  of  this  cheer- 
fulness of  heart.     The  first  of  these  is  the  sense 
of  guilt.     A  man  who  lives  in  a  state  of  vice  and 
impenitence  can  have  no  title  to  that  evenness 
and  tranquility  of  mind  which  is  the  health  of 
the  soul,  and  the  natural  effect  of  virtue  and  in- 
nocence.    Cheerfulness  in  an  ill  man  deserves  a 
harder  name  than  language  can  furnish  us  with, 
and  is  many  degrees  beyond  what  we  commonly 
eall  folly  or  madness. 


200  THE    POLAR   STAK. 

8.  Atheism*  by  which  I  mean  a  disbelief  of  a 
Supreme  Being,  and  consequently  of  a  future 
state,  under  whatsoever  title  it  shelters  itself, 
may  likewise  very  reasonably  deprive  a  man  of 
this  cheerfulness  of  temper.  There  is  something 
so  particularly  gloomy  and  offensive  to  human 
nature  in  the  prospect  of  non-existence,  llir.t  I 
eannot  but  wonder,  with  many  excellent  writers, 
how  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  outlive  the  expec- 
tation of  it.  For  jny  own  part,  I  think  the  be- 
ing of  a  God  is  so  little  to  be  doubted,  that  it 
is  almost  the  only  truth  we  are  sure  of,  and  such 
a  truth  as  we  meet  with  in  every  object,  in  every 
occurrence,  and  in  every  thought. 

9.  If  we  look  into  the  characters  of  this  tribe 
of  infidels,  we  generally  find  they  are  made  up 
of  pride,  spleen,  and  cavil :  it  is  indeed  no  won- 
der, that  men,  who  are  uneasy  to  themselves, 
should  be  so  to  the  rest  of  the  world ;  and  how 
is  it  possible  for  a  man  to  be  otherwise  than  un- 
easy in  himself,  who  is  in  danger  every  moment 
©f  .losing  his  entire  existence,  and  dropping  in- 
to nothing? 

10. The  vicious  man  and  Atheist  have  therefore 
no  pretence  to  cheerfulness,  and  would  act  very 
unreasonably,  should  they  endeavour  after  it, 
It  is  impossible  for  any  one  to  live  in  good  hu- 
mour, and  enjoy  his  present  existence,  who  is 
apprehensive  either  of  torment  or  of  annihilati- 
on ;  of  being  miserable^  or  of  not  being  at  all* 


THE    POLAR    STAR.  201 

After  having  mentioned  these  two  great  prin- 
ciples, which  are  destructive  of  cheerfulness  in 
their  own  nature,  as  well  as  in  right  reason,  I 
cannot  think  of  any  other  that  ought  to  banish  this 
happy  temper  from  a  virtuous  mind.  Pain  and 
sickness,  shame  and  reproach,  poverty  and  old 
age,  nay  death  itself,  considering  the  shortness 
of  their  duration,  and  the  advantage  we  may 
yeap  from  them,  do  not  deserve  the  name  of 
evils* 

11 .  A  good  mind  may  bear  up  under  them  with 
fortitude,  with  indolence,  and  with  cheerfulness 
of  heart — the  tossing  of  a  tempest  does  not  dis- 
eornpose  him,  which  he  is  sure  will  bring  him  to 
a  joyful  harbour. 

A  man  who  uses  his  best  endeavours  to  live  ac- 
cording to  the  dictates  of  virtue  and  right  reason, 
has  two  perpetual  sources  of  cheerfulness,  in 
the  consideration  of  his  own  nature  and  of  that 
Being  on  whom  he  has  a  dependence. 

12.  If  he  looks  intahimself,  he  cannot  but  re- 
joice in   that  existence,  which  is  so  lately  be- 
stowed upon  him,  and  which  after  millions  of 
ages,  will  be  still  new,  and  still  in  its  beginning. 
How  many    self-congratulations  naturally  arise 
in  the  mind,  when  it  reflects  on  this  its  entrance 
into  eternity,  when  it  takes  a  view  of  those  im- 
provable faculties,  which  in   a  few  years,  and 
even  at  its  first  setting  out,  have  made  so  consi 


£0 2  •    THE    POLAR  STAR. 

derable  a  progress,  and  which  will  be  still  re- 
ceiving an  increase  of  perfection,  and  conse- 
quently an  increase  of  happiness  ? 

13.  The  consciousness  of  such  a  being  spreads 
a  perpetual    defusion    of  joy    through  the    soul 
of  a   virtuous  man,    and  makes  him  look  upon 
himself  every  moment  as  more  happy  than  he 
knows  how  to  j'oneeiver 

The  sec  OIK]  source  of  cheerfulness  to  a  good 
mind  is,  its  consideration  of  that  Being  on  whom 
we  have  our  dependence,  and  in  whom,  though 
we  behold  him  as  yet  but  in  the  first  faint  disco- 
veries of  his  perfections,  we  see  every  thing 
that  we  can  imagine  as  great,  glorious,  or  ami- 
able. We  find  ourselves  every  where  upheld  by 
Lis  goodness,  and  surrounded  by  an  immensity 
of  love  and  mercy. 

14.  In  short  we  depend  upon  a  Being,   whose 
power  qualifies   him  to  make  us  happy,  by  an 
infinity  of  means,  whose  goodness  and  truth  en- 
gage  him  to  make  those  happy  who  desire  it  of 
him,  and  whose  unehaugeablenesfi  will  secure  us 
in  this  happiness  to  all  eternity. 

Such  considerations,  which  every  one  should 
perpetually  cherish  in  his  thoughts?  will  banish 
from  us  all  that  secret  heaviness  of  heart  which 
unthinking  men  are  subject  to  when  they  lie  un- 
der no  real  affliction,  all  that  anguish  \vhi<  h  we 
may  IVcl  from  any  evil  that  actually  oppresses  us* 


THE   POXAR   STAR.  203 

to  which  I  may  likewise  add  those  little  crack- 
lings of  mirth  and  folly,  that  are  apter  to  hetray 
virtue  than  support  it;  and  establish  in  us  such 
an  even  and  cheerful  temper,  as  makes  us  pleas- 
ing to  ourselves,  to  those  with  whom  we  eon- 
verse,  and  to  him  whom  we  are  made  to  please* 


BEJIUTF. 

1.  THOUGH  the  danger  of  disappointment 
is  always  in  proportion  *to  the  height  of  expecta- 
tion, yet  I  this  day  claim  the  attention  of  the  la- 
dies, and   profess  to  teach  an  art  by   which  all 
may  obtain  what  has  hitherto  been  deemed  the 
prerogative  of  a  few :  an  art  by  which  their  pre- 
dominant passion  may  be  gratified,  and  their  con- 
quests not  only  extended,  but  secured ;  «  The 
**  art  of  bi'itig  PIVETTX." 

2.  But  though  my  subject  may  interest  the  la- 
dies, it  may,  perbaps,  offend  those  profound  n  o^ 
ralists,  who   have   long  since  determined,  that 
beauty  ought  rather  be  despised   than  desired; 
that,  like   strength,  it  is  a  mere  natural  excel- 
lence, the   effect    of  causes  wholly   out    of  our 
power,  and  not  intended  either  as  the  pledge  of- 
happiness  or  the  distinction  of  meiit. 


THE   P01AR    STAR. 

3.  To  these  gentlemen  I  shall  remark,  that 
beauty  is  among  those  qualities,  which  no  effort 
of  human  wit  could  ever  bring  into  contempt,  it  is 
therefore  to  be  wished  at  least,  that  beauty  was 
in  some  degree  dependent  upon  sentiment  and 
manners,  that  so  high  a  privilege  might  not  be 
possessed  by  the  unworthy,  and  that  human  rea- 
son might  no  longer  suffer  the  mortification  of 
those  who  are  compelled  to  adore  an  idol,  which 
differs  from  a  stone  or  a  log  only  by  the  skill  of 
the  artificer:  and  if  they  cannot  themselves  be- 
hold beauty  with  indifference,  they  must,  surely, 
approve  an  attempt  to  shew  that  it  merits  their 
regard. 

4.  I -shall,   however,  principally  consider  that 
species  of  beauty  which  is  expressed  in  the  coun- 
tenance ;  for  this  alone  is  peculiar  to  human  be- 
ings, and  is  not  less  complicated  than  their  na- 
ture.    In  the  countenance  there  are  but  two  re- 
quisites to   perfect  beauty,    which   are   wholly 
produced  by  external  causes,  colour  and  propor- 
tion :  and  it  will  appear,  that  even  in   common 
estimation   these   are  not  the  chief;    but  that 
though  there  may  be  beauty  without  them,  yet 
there  cannot  be  beauty  without  something  more. 

5.  The  finest  features,  ranged  in  the  most  ex- 
act  symmetry,    and    heightened    by   the   most 
blooming  complexion,  must  be  animated  before 
they  can  strike  ;  and  when  they  are  animated* 


THE   POLAK    STAR.  20tf 

generally  excite  the  same  passions  which 
they  express.  If  they  are  fixed  in  the  dead  calm 
of  insensibility,  they  will  be  examined  without 
emotion  ;  and  if  they  do  not  express  kindness, 
they  will  be  beheld  without  love. 

6.  Looks  of  contempt,  disdain  or  malevolence, 
will  be  reflected,   as   from  a  mirror,  by  every 
countenance  on  which  they  are  turned  ;  and  if  a 
wanton  aspect  excites  desire,  it  is  but  like  that 
of  a  savage  for  his  prey,  which  cannot  be  gratis 
fled  without  the  destruction  of  its  object. 

7.  Among  particular   graces    the  dimple  has 
always  been  allowed  the  pre-eminence,  and  the 
reason  is  evident;  dimples  are  produced  by  a 
smile,  and  a  smile  is  an  .expression  of  compla- 
eency :  so  the   contraction  of  the.  brows  into  a 
frown,  as  it  is  an  indication  of  a  contrary  temper. 
Las  always  been  deemed  a  capital  defect. 

8.  The  /Joyer  is  generally  at  a  loss  to  define 
the  beauty,  by,  which  his   passion  was   suddenly 
and  irresistibly  determined  to  a  particular  object; 
but  this  could  never  happen,  if  it  depended  u[>on 
any  known  rule  or  proportion  upon  the  shape  or 
disposition  of  the  features,  or  the  colour  of  the 
skin :  he  tells  you  that  it  is  something  which  he 
cannot  fully  express ;  something  not  fixed  in  any 
part,  but  diffused  over  the  whole ;  he  calls  it  a 
sweetness,  a  softness,    a  placid   sensibility,    or 
gives  it  some  other  appellation  which  connects 


£06  THE   POI.AK    STAK. 

beauty  with-  sentiment,  and  expresses  a  eliarin 
which  is  not  peculiar  to  any  set  of  features,  but 
is  perhaps  possible  to  all. 

9.  This  beauty,   however,     does   not  always 
consist   in   smiles,    but  varies  as  expressions  of 
meekness  and  kindness  vary  with  their  objects  : 
it  is  extremely  forcible  in  the  silent  complaint  of 
patient  sufferance,  the  tender  solicitude  of  friend- 
ship,  and   the  glow  of  filial  obedience  ;   and  in 
tears,   whether  of  joy,  of  pity,   or  of  grief,   it 
is  almost  irresistible. 

10.  TSiis  is  the  charm  which  captivates  with- 
out the  aid   of  nature,   and    without  which  her 
utmost  bounty  is  ineffectual.      But  it  cannot  be 
assumed  as  a  mask  to  conceal  insensibility    OP 
malevolence  ;•  k   mast  be  the  genuine   effect  of 
corresponding  sentiments,    or  it  will  impress  up- 
on the  coun  e  iance   a  new  and  more  disgusting 
deformity,  affectation  :  it  will  produce  the  grin, 
the  simper,   the   stare,  the  languish,   the  pout, 
and   innumerable    other  grimaces,  that  render 
folly  ridiculous,   and  change   pity  to  contempt* 

11.  By  some,  indeed,  this  species  of  hypocrisy 
has  been  practised  with  such  skill  as  to  deceive 
superficial  observers,  though  it  can  deceive  even 
these  but  for  a  moment.      Looks   which  do  not 
correspond  with  the  heart,   cannot   be   assumed 
without,  labour,  nt>r  continued  without  pain  ;   the 
motive  to  relinquish  them  must,  tkeffe&re*  soon 


THE   POLAR   STAR*  207 

preponderate,  and  the  aspect  and  apparel  of  the 
visit  will  be  laid  by  together  ;  the  smiles  and 
languishments  of  art  will  vanish,  and  the  fierce- 
ness of  rage,  or  t3ie  gloom  of  discontent  wil 
eiUier  obscure  or  destroy  all  the  elegance  of  sym- 
metry and  complexion. 

12.  The  artificial  aspect  is.  indeed,  as 
wretched  a  substitute  for  the  expression  of  sen- 
timent, as  the  smear  of  paint  for  the  blushes  of 
health :  it  is  not  only  equally  transient,  and 
equally  liable  to  detection ;  but  as  paint  leaves 
the  countenance  yet  more  withered  and  ghastly, 
the  passions  burst  out  with  more  violence  after 
restraint,  the  features  become  more  distorted? 
and  excite  more  determined  aversion. 

13.  Beauty,  therefore  depends  principally  up- 
on the  mind,  and,  consequently,  may  be  influenc- 
ed by  education.      It  has  been   remarked,  that 
the  predominant  passions  may  generally  be  dis- 
covered in  the  countenance  ;  because  the  muscles 
by  -which  it  is  expressed,   being  almost  perpetu- 
ally contracted,  loose  their  tone,   and  never  to- 
tally relax  ;  so  that  the  expression  remains  when 
the  passion  is  suspended  :  thus  an  anerry,   a  dis- 
dainful,  a  subtil  and  u  suspicious  temper,  is  dis- 
played ia  characters  that  are  almost  universally 
understood. 

14,  It  is  equally  true  of  the  pleasing  and  the 
softer  passions,  that  they  leave  their  signatures 


208  THE    POLAR    STAR* 

upon  the  countenance  when  they  cease  to  act :  the 
prevalence  of  these  passions  therefore  produces 
a  mechanical  effect  upon  the  aspect,  and  gives  a 
turn  and  cast  to  the  features  which  makes 
a  more  favourable  and  forcible  impression  upon 
the  mind  of  others,  than  any  charm  produced 
by  mere  external  causes. 

15.  Neither  does  the  beauty  which   depends 
upon  temper   and   sentiment,  equally  endanger 
the  possessor :    «  It  is,"  to  use  an  eastern  meta- 
phor, «  like  the  towers  of  a  city,  not  only  an 
ornament   but  a  defence :"  if  it   excites  desire, 
it  at  once  controuls  and  refines  it ;  it  represses 
\vith  awe,  it  softens  with  delicacy,  and  it  wins  to 
imitation.      The  love    of  reason   and   virtue  is 
mingled   with   a   love   of  beauty ;  because   this 
beauty  is  little  more  than  the  emanation  of  intel- 
lectual excellence,  whieh  is  not  an  object  of  cor- 
poreal appetite. 

16.  As  it  excites  a  purer  passion,  it  also  more 
forcibly  engages  to  fidelity:  every  man  finds  him- 
self   more   powerfully   restrained   from    giving 
pain  to  goodness  than  to  beauty  ;  and  every  look 
of  a  countenance  in  which  they  are  blended,  in 
which  beauty  is  the  expression  o£  goodness,  is  a 
silent  reproach  of  the  first  irregular  wish  :  and 
the  purpose  immediately  appears  to  be  disinge- 
nuous and  cruel,    by  which   the  tender  hope  of 
ineffable  affection  would  be   disappointed,    the 


THE   POLAR   STA.K.  290 

placid  confidence  of  unsuspected  simplicity  abused, 
„  and  the  peace  even  of  virtue  endangered  by  the 
most  sordid  infidelity,  and  the  breach  of  the 
strongest  obligations. 

17.  But  the  hope  of  the  hypocrite  must  perish, 
when  the  fictitious  beauty  has  laid  by  her  smiles, 
wh*n  the  lustre  of  her  eyes  and  the  bloom  of  her 
cheeks  have  lost  their  influence  with  their  novelty; 
what  remains  but  a  tyrant  divested  of  power, 
"who  will  never  be  seen  without  a  mixture  of  in- 
dignation and  disdain  ?  The  only  desire  which 
this  object  could  gratify,  will  be  transferred  to 
another,  not  only  without  reluctance,  but  with 
triumph. 

48.  As  resentment  will  succeed  to  disappoint- 
ment, a  desire  to  mortify  will  succeed  to  a  de- 
sire to  please :  and  the  husband  may  be  urged  to 
solicit  a  mistress,  merely  by  a  remembrance 
of  the  beauty  of  his  wife,  which  lasted  only  till 
she  was  known, 

Let  it,  therefore,  be  remembered,  that  none 
can  be  disciples  of  the  Graces,  but  in  the  school 
of  Virtue :  and  that  those  who  wish  to  be  lovely, 
must  learn  early  to  be  good. 

19.  A  FRIEND  of  mine  has  two  daughters, 
whom  I  will  call  Lsetitia  and  Daphne.  The  for« 
mer  is  one  of  the  greatest  beauties  of  the  age  ia 
which  she  lives,  the  latter  no  way  remarkable  for 


THE   rOLAU   STAK. 

any  charms  in  her  person.  Upon  this  one  cif 
cumstance  of  their  outward  form,  the  good  and 
ill  of  their  life  seem  to  turn.  Lsetitia  has  not 
from  her  very  childhood  heard  any  thing  else 
but  commendations  of  her  features  and  complex- 
ion* by  which  means  she  is  no  other  than  nature 
made  her,  a  very  beautiful  outside. 

20.  The  consciousness  of  her  charms  has  ren- 
dered her  insupportably  vain  and   insolent  to- 
wards all  who  have  to  do  with  her.      Daphne, 
\vho  was  almost  twenty  before  one   civil  thing 
had  ever  been  said  to  her,  found  herself  obliged 
to  acquire  some  accomplishments  to  make  up  for 
the  want  of  those  attractions  which  she  saw  in 
her  sister. 

21.  Poor  Daphne  was  seldom  submitted  to  in 
a  debate  wherein  she  was  concerned;  her  dis-  . 
course  had  nothing  to  recommend  it  but  the  good 
sense  of  it,  and  she  was  always  under  a  necessi- 
ty to  have  very  well  considered  what  she  was  to 
say  before  she   uttered  it ;  while    L^etitia   was 
listened  to  with    partiality,   and  approbation  sat 
in  the  countenances  of  those  she  conversed  with5 
before  she  communicated  what  she  had  to  say. 

22.  These  causes  have  produced   suitable  ef- 
fects* and  L&titia  is  as  insipid  a  companion,  as 
Daphne  is  an  agreeable  one.     Lretifia,  confident 
pf  favour,  has  studied  no  arts  to  please :  Daphne? 
despairing  of  any  inclination  towards  her  person? 


TH*    POtAH    STAH. 

has  depended  only  on  her  merit.  Lsetitia  has  al- 
ways something  in  her  air  that  is  sullen,  grave, 
and  disconsolate. 

23.  Daphne  has  a  countenance   that  appears 
cheerful,  open  and  unconcerned.     \  young  gen- 
tleman saw  L&titia  this    winter  at  a  play,   aod 
became  her  captive.     His  fortune  was  such,  that 
he  wanted  very   little  introduction  to  speak  his 
sentiments  to  her  father.     The  lover  was  admit- 
ted  with  the    utmost   freedom   into   the  family, 
"Where  a  constrained  behaviour,  severe  looks,  and 
distant  civilities    were    the   highest   favours   he 
could  obtain  of  Lsetitia  ;     While  Daphne  used 
him  with  the  good  humour,   familiarity,  and  in - 
noce  ice  of  a  sister. 

24.  In  so  much  that  he  would  often  say  to  her 
D.-dP  'Daphne,    wert  you   but  as   handsome  as 
Lie i  ilia  !         She  received   such  language  with, 
that  ingenuous  and  pleasing  mirth,    which  is  na- 
tural to  a  woman  without  design.     H«  still  sighed 
in  vain  for  L&titia,  but   found    certain  relief  in 
the   agreeable     conversation   of  Daphne.        At 
length,  heartily  tired   with  the  haughty  imper- 
tinence of  L&titia,  and  charmed  with  the  re- 
peated instances  of  good  humour  he  had  observ- 
ed in  Daphne,  he  one  day  told  the  latter,  that 
he  hail  something  to  say  to  her  he   hoped  she 
would  be  pleased  with. 

35,  ——Faith,  Daphne,  continued  he,  I  am 


THE    FOIiAll    STAR. 

in  love  with  thee,  and  despise  thy  sister  sincerely, 
The  manner  of  his  declaring  himself  gave  his 
mistress  occasion  for  a  very  hearty  laughter. — 
Nay,  suys  he,  I  knew  you  would  laugh  at  me, 
but  Til  ask  your  father.  Fie  did  so;  the  father 
received  his  intelligence  with  no  less  joy  than 
surprise,  and  was  very  glad  he  had  now  no  care 
left  hut  for  his  beauty,  which  he  thought  he 
would  carry  to  market  at  his  leisure. 

26*  1  do  not  know  any  thing  that  has  pleased 
me  so  much  a  great  while,  as  this  conquest  of 
my  friend  Daphne's.  All  her  acquaintance 
congratulate  her  upon  her  chance  medley,  and 
laugh  at  that  premeditating  murderer,  her  sis- 
ter. As  it  is  an  argument  of  a  light  mind,  to 
think  the  worse  of  ourselves  for  the  imperfec- 
tions of  our  persons,  it  is  equally  below  us  to 
value  ourselves  upon  the  advantages  of  them. 

27.  The  fern 'ale.  world  seem  to  be  almost  in- 
corrigibly gone  astray  in  this  particular  ;  for 
which  reason,  I  shall  recommend  the  following 
extract  out  of  a  friend's  letter  to  the  professed 
beauties,  who  area  people  almost  as  insufferable 
as  the  professed  wits. 

Monsieur  St.  Evremont  has  concluded  one  of 
his  essays  with  affirming,  that  the  last  sighs  of  a 
handsome  woman  are  not  so  much  for  the  loss  of 
her  life  as  her  beauty. 

38  Perhaps  this  raillery  is  pursued  too  far, 


TBE   POLAR   STAK. 

yet  it  is  turned  upon  a  very  obvious  remark,  that 
woman's  strongest  passion  is  for  her  o\vri  beauty r 
and  that  she  values  it  as  her  favourite  distinc- 
tion. From  hence  it  is  that  all  hearts,  which 
pretend  to  improve  or  preserve  it,  meet  with  so 
general  a  reception  among  the  sex. 

29.  To  say  nothing  of  many  false  helps,  and 
contraband  wares  of  beauty,   which  are  daily 
vended  in  this  great  mart,  there  is  not  a  maiden 
gentlewoman,   of  a  good  family  in  any  county  of 
South  Britain,  who  has  not  heard  of  the  virtues 
of  may-due,  or  is  unfurnished  with  some  receipt 
or  other  in  favour  of  her  complexion;  and  I 
have  known  a  physician  of  learning  and   sense* 
after  eight  years  study  in  the  university,  and  a 
course  of  travels  into  most  countries  of  Gurope* 
owe  the  first  raising  of  his  fortune  to  a  cosmetic 
wash. 

30.  This  has  given  me  occasion  to  consider 
how   so  universal  a  disposition   in   womankind,, 
which  springs  from  a  laudable  motive,  the  desire 
of  pleasing,    and  proceeds  upon  an  opinion,  not 
altogether  groundless,  that  nature  may  be  help- 
ed by  art,  may  be  turned  to  their  advantage.    And, 
methiiiks,  if  would   be  an  acceptable  service  to 
take  them  out  of  the  hands  of  quacks  and  pre- 
tenders,   and  to  prevent   their  imposing  upon 
themselves,  by  discovering  to  them  the  true  se- 
cret and  art  of  improving  beauty. 


THE   POI.AK    STAR* 

31.  In  order  to  this,  before  I  touch  upon  it 
directly,  it  will  be  necessary  to  lay  down  a  few 
preliminary  maxims,  viz. 

Thai  no  woman  can  be  handsome  by  the  force 
of  features  alone,  any  more  than  she  can  be  wit- 
ty only  by  the  help  of  speech. 

That  pride  destroys  all  symmetry  and  grace, 
aud  affV elation  is  a  more  terrible  enemy  to  fine 
faces  than  the  small  pox. 

That  no  woman  is  capable  of  being  beautiful* 
who  is  not  incapable  of  being  false. 

And,  that  what  would  be  odious  in  a  friend,  is 
deformity  in  a  mistress. 

32.  Froru  these  few  principles  thus  laid  down> 
it  will  be  easy  to  prove,  that  the  true  art  of  as- 
sisting beauty  consists  in  embellishing  the  whole 
person  by  the  proper  ornaments  of  virtuous  and 
commendable  qualities.  By  this  help  alone  it 
is  that  tlose  who  are  the  favourite  work  of 
uature,  or,  as  Mr.  Dry  den  expresses  it,  the  por- 
celain clay  of  human  kind,  become  animated, 
an<l  are  in  a  capacity  of  exerting  their  charms  ;. 
and  those  who  se.pni  to  have  been  neglected  by 
her.  like  models  wrought  in  haste,  are  capable,  in 
a  great  measure,  of  finishing  what  she  has  left 
imperfect. 

33  It  is,  tnethinks,  a  low  and  degrading  ideaf 
of  that  sex,  which  was  created  to  refine  the  joys, 
and  soften  tiie  cares  of  humanity,  by  the  most 


THE    POLAK    STAtt. 

agreeable  participation,  to  consider  them  merely 
as  objects  of  sight — This  is  abridging  them  of 
their  natural  extent  of  power,  to  put  them  upon 
a  level  with  their  pictures  at  the  pantheon. 
How  much  nobler  is  the  contemplation  of  beauty 
heightened  by  virtue,  and  commanding  our 
esteem  and  love,  while  it  draws  our  observation? 

34.  How  faint  and  spiritless  are  the  charm*  of 
a  coquette,  when  compared  with  the  real  loveli- 
ness of  Sophronia's  innocence,   piety,  good -hu- 
mour, and  truth  ;    virtues  which  add  a  new  soft- 
ness to  her  sex,  and  even   beautify  her  beauty  ! 
That  agreeableness,  which  must  otherwise  have 
appeared  no  longer  in  the  modest  virgin,  is  now 
preserved  in  the  tender  mother,    the   prudent 
friend  and  faithful  wife. 

35.  Colours  artfully  spread  upon  canvass  may 
entertain  the  eye,  but  not  affect  the  heart ;  and 
she,  who  takes  no  care  to  add  to  the  natural 
graces   of  her  person,   any  excellent  qualities, 
may  be  allowed  still  to  amuse  as  a  picture,   but 
not  to  triumph  as  a  beauty. 

When  Adam  is  introduced  by  Milton  describ- 
ing Eve  in  Paradise,  and  relating  to  the  angel 
the  impressions  he  felt  upon  seeing  her  at  her 
first  creation,  he  does  not  represent  her  like  a 
Grecian  Venus,  by  her  shape  or  features,  but  by 
the  lustre  of  her  mind  which  shone  in  them,  and 
gave  them  their  power  of  charming. 


THE    POI.AR    STAK- 

36.  Graceivas  in  atther  steps,  heav'n  in  her  eye, 

In  all  her  gestures  dignity  and  love  : 
Without   this   irradiating  power,  the  proudest 
fair  one  ought  to  know,  whatever  her  glass  may 
tell  her  to  the  contrary,  that  her  most  perfect 
features  are   uninformed  and  dead. 

I  cannot  hetter  close  this  moral,  than  by  a 
short  epitaph,  written  by  Ben  Jbhnson,  with  a 
spirit  which  nothing  could  inspire,  but  such  an 
object  as  I  have  been  desr  ribing. 

Underneath  this  stone  doth  lie, 
*fl.s  much  virtue  as  could  die: 
Which  when  alive  did  vigour  give 
To  as  much  beauty  as  could  live. 

I  am.  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 
R.  B, 


.JILVJINTJIGES  of  PEACE. 

OH,  first  of  human  blessings,  and  supreme ! 
Fair  Peace  !  how  lovely,  how  delightful,  thou 
By  whose  wide  tie,  the  kindred  sons  of  men, 
Like  brothers  live,  in  amity  combined, 
And  unsuspicious  faith  :  while  honest  toil 
Gives  ev'ry  joy  ;  and,  to  those  joys,  a  right, 
"Which  idle  barbarous  rapine  but  usurps* 


THE   POIAft   STAR.  317 

Pure  is  toy  reign  ;  when,  unaecurs'd  by  blood. 
Nought,  save  the  sweetness  of  indulgent  show'rs, 
Trickling,  distils  into  the  vernant  glebe  ; 
Instead  of  mangled  carcases,  sad  scene! 
When  the  bly  the  sheaves  lie  scattered  o'er  the  field ; 
When  only  shining  shares,  the  crooked  knife, 
And  hooks  imprint  the  vegetable  wound  ; 
When  the  land  blushes  with  the  rose  alone. 
The  falling  fruitage,  and  the  bleeding  vine. 
Oh,  Peace  !  thou  source,  and  SQU!  of  social  life ! 
Beneath  whose  calm  inspiring  influence, 
Science  his  views  enlarges,  art  refines, 
And  swelling  commerce  opens  all  her  ports — 
Bless'd  be  the  man  divine,  who  gives  us  thee  ! 
Who  bids  the  trumpet  hush  his  horrid  clang, 
Nor  blow  the  giddy  nations  into  rage ; 
Who  sheathes  the  murd'rous  blade  ;  the  deadly 

gun 

Into  the  well-pil'd  armory  returns ; 
And,  ev'ry  vigour  from  the  work  of  death? 
To  grateful  industry  converting,  makes 
The  country  flourish,  and  the  city  smile  ! 
Unviolated,  him  the  virgin  sings  ; 
And  him,  the  smiling  mother,  to  her  train* 
Of  him,  the  shepherd  in  the  peaceful  dale, 
Chants  ;  and  the  treasures  of  his  labour  sure, 
The  husbandman,  of  him,  as  at  the  plough, 
Or  team,  he  toils.     With  him,  the  sailor  soothes, 
Beneath  the  trembling  moon,  the  midnight  wave ; 


TUB   20XAR    STAE. 

And  the  full  city,  warm,  from  street  to  street, 
And  shop  to  shop,  responsive,  riogs  of  him, 
Kor  joys  one  land  alone  :  his  praise  extends, 
Far  as  the  sun  rolls  the  diffusive  day  ; 
Far  as  the  breeze  can  bear  the  gifts  of  peace  ; 
Till  all  the  happy  nations  catch  the  song. 


JQIGJVTTF  o 


1.  A  CERTAIN  dignity  of  manners  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  make  even  the  most  valuable 
character  either  respected  or  respectable  in  the 
world. 

Horse-play,  romping,  frequent  and  loud  fits  of 
laughter,  jokes,  waggery,  and  indiscriminate 
familiarity,  will  sink  both  merit  and  knowledge 
into  a  degree  of  contempt.  They  compose  at 
most  a  merry  fellow,  and  a  merry  fellow  was 
never  a  respectable  man.  Indiscriminate  fami- 
liarity either  offends  your  superiors,  or  else  dubs 
you  their  dependant  and  led  captain.  It  gives 
your  inferiors  just,  but  troublesome  and  impro- 
per claims  of  equality.  A  joker  is  near  a  kin  to 
a  buffoon  ;  and  neither  of  them  is  the  least  re* 
lated  to  wit. 

2.  Mimicry,  the  favourite  amusement  of  little 
minds,  has  been  even  the  contempt  of  great  ones* 
Never  give  way  to  it  yourself,  nor  ever  eaeour- 


THE   POUR    STAE.  219 

age  it  in  others  ;  it  is  the  most  illiberal  of  all 
buffoonery  ;  it  is  an  insult  to  the  person  you 
mimic;  and  insults,  I  have  often  told  you,  are 
seldom  forgiven. 

As  to  a  mimic  or  a  wag,  he  is  little  else  than 
a  buffoon,  who  will  distort  his  mouth  arid  his  eyes 
to  make  people  laugh.  Be  assured,  no  one  per- 
son ever  demeaned  himself  to  please  the  rest, 
unless  he  wished  to  be  thought  the  Merry-An- 
drew of  the  company,  and  whether  this  character 
is  respectable,  I  will  leave  you  to  judge. 

3.  If  a  man's  company  is  coveted  on  any  other 
account  than  his  knowledges,  his  good  sense,  or 
his   manners,   he   is   seldom  respected  by   those 
who  invite  him,  but  made  use  of  only  to  enter- 
tain.     "  Let's  have  such  a  one,  for  he  sings  a 
good    song,  or  he  is   always  joking  or  laugh- 
ing ;"  or,   "  let's   send   for  such  a   one,  for  he 
is  a  good  bottle    companion  5"    these   are  de- 
grading distinctions,   that  preclude  all   respect 
and  esteem.     Whoever  is  had  (as  the  phrase  is) 
for  the   sake  of  any   qualifications,    singly,  is 
merely   that  thing  he  is  hod  for,  is   never  con- 
sidered in  any  light,  arid,  of  course,  never  pro- 
perly respected,  let  his  intrinsic  merits  be  what 
they  will. 

4.  You  may  possibly  suppose  this  dignity  of 
manners  to  border  upon  pride ;  but  it  differs  as 
much  from  pride,  as  true  courage  from  bluster- 
ing- 


220  THE   POLAR    STAR. 

To  flatter  a  person  right  or  wrong,  is  abject 
slavery,  and  to  consent  readily  to  every  thing 
proposed  by  a  company,  be  it  silly  or  criminal, 
is  fully  as  degrading,  as  to  dispute  warmly  upon 
every  subject,  and  to  contradict  upon  all  occa- 
sions. To  preserve  dignity,  we  should  modestly 
assert  our  own  seatiments,  though  we  politely 
acquiesce  in  those  of  others. 

So  again,  to  support  dignity  of  character,  we 
should  neither  be  frivolously  curious  about  tri- 
fles nor  be  laboriously  intent  on  little  objects  that 
deserve  not  a  moment's  attention  ;  for  this  im- 
plies an  incapacity  in  matters  of  greater  impor- 
tance. 

A  great  deal  likewise  depends  upon  our  air, 
address,  and  expressions;  an  aukward  address 
and  vulgar  expressions  infer  either  a  low  turn  of 
mind,  or  a  low  education. 

5.  Insolent  contempt,  or  low  envy,  is  incom- 
patible also  with  dignity  of  manners.     Low-bred 
persons,  fortunately  lifted  in  the  world,  in  fine 
clothes  and  fine  equipages,  will  insolently  look 
down  on  all  those  who  cannot  afford  to  make  as 
good  an  appearance ;  and  they  openly  envy  those 
who  perhaps  make  a  better.     They  also  dread 
the  being  slighted ;  of  course  are  suspicious  and 
captious ;    are    uneasy   themselves*   and   make 
every  body  else  so  about  them. 

6.  A   certain  degree   of  outward  seriousness 
in  looks  and  actions  gives  dignity,  while  a  een~ 


THE   POLAR   STAR.  221 

stant  smirk  upon  the  face  (with  that  insipid  siHy 
smile,  Cools  have  when  they  would  be  eivil)  and 
whiffling  motions,  are  strong  marks  of  futility. 

But  above  all,  a  dignity  of  character  is  to  be 
acquired  best  by  a  certain  firmness  in  all  our 
actions.  A  mean,  timid,  and  passive  complais- 
ance, lets  a  man  down  more  tSia^i  he  is  aware  of: 
but  sti-1  his  firmness  or  resolution  should  not  ex- 
tend to  brutality,  but  be  aecois-pa^ird  with  a 
peculiar  and  engaging  softness,  or  mildness. 

7.  If  you  discover  any  hastiness  in  your  tem- 
per, and  find  it  apt  to  break  out  into  rough  and 
unguarded  expressions,   watch  it  narrowly,  and 
endeavour  to  <-urb  it ;  but  let   no  complaisance, 
no  weak   desire  of  pleasing,  no  wheedling,   urge 
you  to   do    that   which  discretion   forbids ;  but 
persist  and   persevere   in  all  that  is   right.      la 
your  connections  avid  friendships,  you  will  find 
this  rule  of  use  to  you.      Invite   and   preserve 
attachments,  by  your  firmness;    but   labour   to 
k^ep  clear  of  enemies,  by  a  mildness  of  behaviour. 
Disarm   those   enemies  you    may    unfortunately 
have,  (and   few  are  without  them)  by  a  gentle- 
ness of  manner,   but  make  them  f  el    the  steadi- 
ness of  your  just  resentment ;  for  there  is  a  wide 
difference  between  bearing  malice   and  a   deter- 
mined  self  defence;  the   one  is   imperious,   but 
the  other  is  prudent  and  justifiable. 

8.  In  directing  your  servants,  or  any   person 
you  have  a  right  to  command  $  if  you  deliver 


THE   POLAR   STAIU 

your  orders  mildly  and  in  that  engaging  manner 
which  every  gentleman  should  study  to  do,  you 
will  be  cheerfully,  and  consequently,  well  obey- 
ed :  but  if  tyranically,  you  would  be  very  un- 
willingly served,  if  served  at  all.  A  cool,  steady 
determination  should  shew  that  you  will  be 
obeyed,  but  a  gentleness  in  the  manner  of  en- 
forcing that  obedience  should  make  service  a 
cheerful  one.  Thus  will  you  be  loved  without 
being  despised,  and  feared  without  being  hated. 

9.  1  hope  1  need  not  mention  vices.  A  man 
who  has  patiently  been  kicked  out  of  company, 
may  have  as  good  a  pretence  to  courage,  as  one 
rendered  infamous  by  his  vices,  may  to  dignity 
of  any  kind  ;  however*  of  such  consequence  are 
appearances,  that  an  outward  decency,  and  an 
affected  dignity  of  manners,  will  even  keep  such 
a  man  the  longer  from  sinking.  If  therefore 
you  should  unfortunately  have  no  intrinsic  merit 
of  your  own,  keep  up.  if  possible,  the  appearance 
of  it ;  and  the  world  will  possibly  give  you  credit 
for  the  rest.  A  versatility  of  manner  is  as  ne- 
cessary in  social  life,  as  a  versatility  of  parts 
in  political.  This  is  no  way  blameable,  if  not 
used  with  an  ill  design.  We  must,  like  the 
cameleon,  then,  put  on  the  hue  of  the  persons  we 
wish  to  be  well  with  ;  and  it  surely  can  never  be 
blameable,  to  endeavour  to  gain  the  good- will 
or  affection  of  any  one,  if,  when  obtained,  we  do 
ti<n  meau  to  abuse  it. 


THE    POXAU    STAK.  223 

TRE  CHOICE  OF  A  RURAL  LIFE: 
A  POEM. 

Sy  Wm.  Fairjield,  Esq. 

THE  ARGUMENT. 

The  subject  proposed.  Situation  of  the  author's 
house.  His  frugality  in  itsfurniture.  The  beau- 
ties of  the  country.  His  love  of  retirement? 
his  choice  of  his  friends.  Ji  description  of 
the  morning.  Hymn  to  the  sun.  Contempla- 
tion of  the  heavens.  The  existence  of  God 
inferred  from  a  view  of  the  beauty  and  har- 
mony of  the  creation.  Morning  and  evening 
devotion.  The  vanity  of  riches  and  grandeur. 
The  choice  of  his  books.  Praise  of  the  mar- 
riage state,  ti  knot  of  modern  ladies  describ- 
ed. The  author's  exit. 

PHILOSOPHIC  SOLITUDE,  &c. 

LET  ardent  heroes  seek  renown  in  arms, 
Pant  after  fame,  and  rush  to  war's  alarms  $ 
To  shining  palaces  let  fools  resort, 
And  dunces  cringe  to  be  esteemed  at  court,; 
Mine  be  the  pleasure  of  a  rural  life, 
From  noise  remote,  and  ignorant  of  strife  $ 
Far  from  the  painted  belle,  and  white-glov'cl 

beau, 
The  lawless  masquerade,  and  midnight  show; 


THE   TOLAR   STAfc. 

From  ladies,  lap-dogs,  courtiers,  garters,  stars, 
Fops,  fiddlers,  tyrants,  emperors,  and  czars. 

Full  in  the  centre  of  some  shady  grove, 
By  nature  form'd  for  solitude  and  love ; 
On  banks  array'd  with  ever-blooming  flow'rs, 
Near  beauteous  landscape,  nor  by  rosiate  bow'rs, 
My.  neat,  but  simple  mansion  I  would  raise, 
Unlike  the  sumptuous  domes  of  modern  days  ; 
Devoid  of  pomp,  with  rural  plainness  formed, 
With  savage  game,  and  glossy  shells  adorn'd. 

No  costly  furniture  should  grace  my  hall  $ 
But  curling  vines  ascend  against  the  wall, 
Whose  pliant  branches  should  luxuriant  twine, 
While  purple  clusters  swell'd  with  future  wine: 
To  slake  my  thirst  a  liquid  lapse  distil 
From  craggy  rocks,  and  spread  a  limpid  rill. 
Along  my  mansion  spiry  firs  should  grow, 
And  gloomy  yews  extend  the  shady  row  ; 
The  cedars  flourish,  and  the  poplars  rise 
Sublimely  tall,  and  shoot  into  the  skies ; 
Among  the  leaves  refreshing  zephyrs  play, 
And  crowding  trees  exclude  the  noon- tide  ray  5 
Whereon  the  birds  their  downy  nests  should  form, 
Securely  sheltered  from  the  battering  storm ; 
And  to  melodious  notes  their  choir  apply, 
Soon  as  Aurora  blush M  along  the  sky  : 
While  all  around  thf  enchanting  music  rings, 
And  ev'ry  vocal  grove  responsive  sings. 


THE   POLAR   STAR.  225 

Me  to  sequestered  scenes,  ye  muses  guide, 
Where  nature  wantons  in  her  virgin  pride ; 
To  mossy  banks  edg'd  round  with  op'ningflow'rs, 
Elysian  fields  and  amarantian  bow'rs  ; 
T9  ambrosial  founts,  and  sleep-inspiring  rills, 
To  herbag'd  vales,  gay  lawns,  and  sunny  hills. 

Welcome,  ye  shades  !  all  hail,  ye  vernal  blooms ! 
Ye  bow'ry  thickets,  and  prophetic  glooms ! 
Ye  forests  hail !  ye  solitary  woods ! 
Love   whispering  groves,  and  silver- streaming 

floods ! 

Ye  meads,  that  aromatic  sweets  exhale ! 
Ye  birds,  and  all  ye  sylvan  beauties  hail! 
O  how  I  long  with  you  to  spend  my  days f 
Invoke  the  muse,  and  try  the  rural  lay ! 

No  trumpets  there  with  martial  clangor  sound, 
No  prostrate  heroes  strew  the  crimson'd  ground ; 
No  groves  of  lances  glitter  in  the  air, 
Nor  thund'ring  drums  provoke  the  sanguine  war ; 
But  white-rob'd  peace,  and  universal  love 
Smile  in  the  field,  and  brighten  ev'ry  grove. 
There  all  the  beauties  of  the  circling  year, 
In  native  ornamental  pride  appear. 

Gay  rosy-bosom'd  Spring,  and  Jlpril  show'rs, 
Wake  from  the  womb  of  earth  the  rising  flow'rs : 
In  deeper  verdure  Summer  clothes  the  plain, 
And  Autumn  bends  beneath  the  golden  grain  ; 


226  THE   £OLAR  STAR, 

The  trees  weep  amber,  and  the  whispering  gales 
Breeze  o'er  the  lawn,  or  murmur  through  the 

vales; 

The  flow'ry  tribes  in  gay  confusion  bloom, 
Profuse  of  sweets,  and  fragrant  with  perfume; 
On  blossoms  blossoms,  fruits  on  fruits  arise, 
And  varied  prospects  glad  the  wand'ring  eyes. 
In  these  fair  Seats  I'd  pass  the  joyous  day, 
"Where  meadows  flourish  and  where  fields  look 


From  bJiss  to  bliss  with  endless  pleasure  rove, 
Seek  crystal  streams,  or  haunt  the  vernal  grove, 
Woods,  fountains,  lakes,  the  fertile  fields,  ov 

shades, 
Aeriel  mountains,  or  subjacent  glades* 

There  from  the  polish'd  fetters  of  the  great 
Triumphal  piles,  and  gilded  rooms  of  state; 
Prime  ministers,  and  sycophantic  knaves, 
Illustrious  villains,  and  illustrious  slaves! 
From  all  the  vain  formality  of  fools, 
And  odious  task  of  arbitrary  rules; 
The  ruffling  cares  which  the  vex'd  soul  annoy, 
The  wealth  the  rich  possess,  but  not  enjoy, 
The  visionary  bliss  the  world  can  lend, 
The  insidious  foe,  and  false  designing  friend, 
The  seven-fold  fury  of  Xantippe's  soul, 
And  S  -  's  rage  that  burns  without  controul  ; 
I'd  live  retir'd,  contented,  and  serene, 
Forgot,  unknown,  imeim'd  and  unseen. 


THE   POLAR   STAR. 

Yet  not  a  real  hermitage  I'd  choose, 
Nor  wish  to  live  from  all  the  world  recluse  ; 
But  with  a  friend  sometimes  unbend  the  soul 
In  social  converse,  o'er  the  sprightly  bowl. 
With  cheerful  W — ,  serene  and  wisely  gay, 
I'd  often  pass  the  dancing  hours  away  : 
He  skill'd  alike  to  profit  and  to  please, 
Politely  talks  with  unaffected  ease ; 
Sage  in  debate,  and  faithful  to  his  trust, 
Mature  in  science,  arid  severely  just; 
Of  soul  diffusive,  vast  and  unconfin'd, 
Breathing  benevolence  to  all  mankind; 
Cautious  to  censure,  ready  to  commend, 
A  firm,  unshaken,  uncorrupted  friend  : 
In  early  youth  fair  wisdom's  paths  he  trod, 
In  early  youth  a  minister  of  God: 
Each  pupil  lov'd  him  when  at  Yale  he  shone, 
And  ev'ry  bleeding  bosom  weeps  him  gone. 

Dear  A too,  should  grace  my  rural  seat, 

Forever  welcome  to  the  green  retreat : 
Heav'n  for  the  cause  of  righteousness  designed, 
His  florid  genius,  and  capacious  mind. 
Oft  have  I  heard,  amidst  th'  adoring  ihrong, 
Celestial  truths  devolving  from  his  tongue  ; 
High  o'er  the  list'ning  audience  seen  him  stand7 
Divinely  speak,  and  graceful  stretch  his  hand : 
\Vith  such  becoming  grace  and  pompous  sound,. 
With  long-rob'd  senators  encircled  round, 
T  2 


228  THE    POLAR   STAR* 

Before  the  Roman  bar,  while  Home  was  free> 
Norbow'd  to  Csesar's  throne  the  servile  knee^ 
Immortal  Tully  plead  the  patriot  cause, 
"While  ev'ry  tongue  resounded  his  applause. 

Next  round  my  board  should  candid  S appear 9 

Of  manners  gentle,  and  a  friend  sincere, 
Averse  to  discord,  party-rage  and  strife, 
He  sails  serenely  down  the  stream  of  life. 
With  these  three  friends 9   beneath  a  spreading 

shade, 

Where  silt er  fountains  murmur  thro*  the  glade  | 
Or  in  cool  grots*  perfum'd  with  native  flovv'rs, 
In  harmless  mirth  I'd  spend  the  circling  hours  $ 
Or  gravely  talk,  or  innocently  sing, 
Or,  in  harmonious  concert,  strike  the  trembling 

string. 

Amid  scquester'd  bow'rs,  near  gliding  streanis> 
Druids  and  Bards  enjoyed  serenest  dreams. 
Such  was  the  seat  where  courtly  Horace  sung? 
And  his  bold  harp  immortal  Maro  strung : 
Where  tuneful  Orpheus*  unresisted  lay, 
Made  rapid  tygers  bear  their  rage  away  ; 
While  groves  attentive  to  th*  extatic  sound 
Burst  from  the  roots,  and  raptur'd,  danc'd  around 
Such  seats  the  venerable  Seers  of  old 
(When  blissful  years  in  golden  circles  rolPd) 
Chose  and  admir'd  :  e'en  Goddesses  and  Gods 
(As  poets  feign)  were  fond  of  .such  abodes  • 


THE    POLAR    STAH. 

Th*  imperial  consort  of  fictitious  Jove 
For  fount  full  Me  forsor-k  the  realms  above. 
Oft'  to  Iclalia  on  a  golden  cloud, 
Veil'd  in  a  mist  of  fragrance,  Venus  rode  ; 
There  num'rous  altars  to  the  queen  were  rear'd, 
And  love-sick  youths  their  am'rous  vows  prefer?d, 
While  fair-hair'd  damsels  (a  lascivious  train) 
With  wanton  rites  ador'd  her  gentle  reign* 
The  silver-shafted  Huntress  of  the  woods, 
Sought  pendant  shades,  and  bath'd    in  cooling 

floods. 

In  palmy  Delos,  by  Scamander's  side, 
Or  where  Cajister  rolPd  his  silver  tide, 
Melodious  Phoebus  sang  ;  the  muses  round 
Alternate  warbling  to  the  heav'nly  sound. 
E'en  the  feign'd  monarch  of  heavVs  bright  abode, 
High  throned  in  gold,  of  Gods  the  sov'reign  God, 
Oft'  time  preferred  the  shade  of  Ma's  grove 
To  all  th'  ambrosial  feasts,  and  nectar'd  cups 

above. 

Behold,  the  resy-finger'd  morning  dawn, 
In  saffron  rob'd,  and  blushing  o'er  the  lawn; 
Reflected  from  the  clouds,  a  radiant  stream 
Tips  with  etherial  due  the  mountain's  brim. 
Th>  unfolding  roses,  and  the  opening  jftow'rs 
Imbibe  the  due,  and  strew  the  varied  bow'rs, 
Diffuse  nectareous  sweets  around,  and  glow 
With  all  the  colours  of  the  show'ry  bow. 


230  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

Th5  industrious  bees  their  balmy  toil  renew, 
Buzz  o'er  the  field,  and  sip  the  rosy  dew. 
But  yonder  comes  th?  illustrious  God  of  day, 
Invests  the  east,  and  gilds  th*  etherial  way  ; 
The  groves  rejoice,  the  feather' d  nations  sing, 
Echo  the  mountains  and  the  vallies  ring. 

Hail  Orb  !  arrayed  with  majesty  and  fire, 
That  bids  each  sable  shade  of  night  retire  ! 
Fountain  of  light !  with  burning  glory  crown'd, 
Darting  a  deluge  of  effulgence  round  ! 
"Wak'd  by  thy  genial  and  prolific  ray, 
Nature  resumes  her  verdure,  and  looks  gay  : 
Fresh  blooms  the  rose,  the  drooping  plants  re- 
vive, 

The  groves  reflourish,  and  the  forests  live. 
Deep  in  the  teeming  earth,  the  rip'ning  ore 
Confesses  thy  consolidating  pow'r  : 
Hence  labour  draws  her  tools,  and  artists  mould 
The  fusile  silver  and  the  ductile  gold  : 
Hence  war  is  furnish'd  and  the  regal  shield 
Like  lightning  flashes  o'er  th*  ill umin*d  field. 
If  thou  so  fair  with  delegated  light, 
That  all  heav'n's  splendors  vanish  at  thy  sight  ; 
"With  what  effulgence  must  the  ocean  glow  ! 
From  which  thy  borrow'd  beams  incessant  flow  ! 
Th*  exhaustless  source,  whose  single  smile  sup- 
plies, 
Th*  unnumber'd  orbs  that  gild  the  spangled  skies  f 


THE  POLAR   STAR. 

Oft*  would  1  view,  in  admiration  lost, 
HeavVs  sumptuous  canopy,  and  starry  host  } 
With  level'd  tube,  and  astronomic  eye, 
Pursue  the  planets  whirling  thro*  the  sky ; 
Immeasurable  vault  !  where  thunders  roll, 
And  forky  lightnings  flash  from  pole  to  pole. 
Say,  railing  infidel !  canst  thou  survey 
Yon  globe  of  fire,  that  gives  the  golden  day, 
Th'  harmonious  structure  of  this  vast  machine, 
And  not  confess  its  architect  divine  ? 
Then  go,  vain  wretch !  tho'  deathless  be  thy  soulj 
Go,  swell  the  riot,  and  exhaust  the  bowl ; 
Plunge  into  vice,  humanity  resign, 
Go,  fill  the  stie,  and  bristle  into  swine  ! 

None  but  a  pow'r  omnipotent  and  wise 
Could  frame  this  earth,  or  spread  the  boundless 

skies  ! 

He  made  the  whole  ;  at  his  omnific  call          *} 
From  formless  chaos  rose  this  spacious  ball,     $> 
And  one  Almighty  God  is  seen  in  all.  J 

By  him  pur  cup  is  crown'd  our  table  spread 
"With  luscious  wine,  and  life- sustaining  bread. 
"What  countless  wonders  doth  the  earth  contain  ! 
What  countless  wonders  the  unfathom'd  main  ! 
"Bedrop'd  with  gold,  there  scaly  nations  shine, 
Haunt  coral  groves,  or  lash  the  foaming  brine. 
Jehovah's  glories  blaze  all  nature  round, 
In  heaven*  on  earth,  and  in  the  deeps  profound  ; 


232  THE   FO!AR   STAR. 

Ambitious  of  his  name,  the  warblers  sing, 

And  praise  their    maker  while  they  hail  the 

spring  : 

The  zephyrs  breathe  it,  and  the  thunders  roar, 
While  surge  to  surge,  and  shore  resounds  to  shore- 
But  man,  endu'd  with  an  immortal  mind, 
His  maker's  image,  and  for  heaven  design'd! 
To  loftier  notes  his  raptur'd  voice  should  raise, 
And    chant   sublimer  hymns    to  his  creator's 

praise. 

"When  rising  Phoebus  ushers  in  the  morn, 
And  golden  beams  th'  impurpled  skies  adorn  : 
"Wak'd  by  the  gentle  murmur  of  the  floods, 
Or  the  soft  music  of  the  waving  woods  ; 
Rising  from  sleep  with  the  melodious  quire, 
To  solemn  sounds  Pd  tune  the  hallow'd  lyre. 
Thy  name,  O  God !  should  tremble  on  my  tongue, 
Till  ev'ry  grove  prov'd  vocal  to  my  song  : 
(Delightful  task  !  with  dawning  light  to  sing, 
Triumphant  hymns  to  heavVs  eternal  king.) 
Some  courteous  angel  should  my  breast,  inspire, 
Attune  my  lips,  and  guide  the  warbled  wire, 
While  sportive  echoes  catch  the  sacred  sound, 
Swell  ev'ry  note,  and  bear  the  music  round  ; 
"While  mazy  streams  meand'ring  to  the  main 
Hang  in  suspense  to  hear  the  heav'nly  strain, 
And  hush'd  to  silence,  all  the  feather'd  throng, 
Attentive  listen  to  the  tuneful  song. 


THE  POLAR   STAB.  233 

Father  of  light !  exhaustless  source  of  good  ! 
Supreme,  eternal,  self-existent  God  ! 
Before  the  beamy  sun  dispensed  a  ray, 
Flain'd  in  the  azure  vault,  and  gave  the  day ; 
Before  the  glimm'ring  moon,  with  borrowed  light, 
Shone  queen  amid  the  silver  host  of  night ; 
High  in  the  heav'ns,  thou  reign'dst  superior  lord, 
By  suppliant  angels  worshiped  and  ador'd. 
With  the  celestial  choir  then  let  me  join 
In  cheerful  praises  to  the  pow'r  divine. 
To  sing  thy  praise,  do  thou,  O  God  !  inspire 
A  mortal  breast  with  more  than  mortal  fire  ; 
In  dreadful  majesty  thou  sit'st  enthroned, 
"With  light  encircled,  and  with  glory  crown'd  ; 
Thro'  all  infinitude  extends  thy  reign, 
For  thee,  nor  heav'n,  nor  heav'n  of  heav'ns  con- 
tain ; 

But  tho'  thy  throne  is  fix'd  above  the  sky, 
Thy  omnipresence  fills  immensity. 
Saints  rob'd  in  white,  to  thee  their  anthems 

bring, 

And  radiant  martyrs  hallelujahs  sing  : 
Heaven's  universal  host  their  voices  raise 
In  one  eternal  chorus,  to  thy  praise ; 
And  round  thy  awful  throne,  with  one  accord, 
Sing,  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  is  the  Lord. 
At  thy  creative  voice,  from  ancient  night, 
Sprang  smiling  beauty, and  yon  worlds  of  light: 


THE   P011K   STAR. 

Thou  spak'st — the  planetary  chorus  roll'd, 
And  all  th'  expanse,  was  starr'd  with  beamy  gold  ; 
Let  there  leiight,  said  God, — Lightinstant  shone, 
And  from  the  orient,  burst  the  golden  sun  ; 
Heav'n's  gazing  hierarchies,  with  glad  surprise, 
Saw  the  first  inorn  invest  the  recent  skies, 
And  strait   th'   exulting  troops  thy  throne  sur- 
round 

With  thousand  thousand  harps  of  heav'nly  sound: 
Thrones,    powers,    dominions,     (ever    shining 

trains  !) 

Shouted  thy  praises  in  triumphant  strains : 
Great  are  thy  worl$s9   they  sing,  and,  all  around, 
Great  are  thy  works,  the  echoing  heav'ns  resound. 
The  effulgent  sun,  insufferably  bright, 
Is  but  a  beam  of  thy  o'erflowing  light ; 
The  tempest  is  thy  breath  :  the  thunder  hurPd, 
Tremendous  roars  thy  vengeance  o'er  the  world  ; 
Thou  bow'st  the  heav'ns,  the  smoking  •  moun- 
tains nod, 

Rocks  fall  to  dust,  and  nature  owns  her  God  ; 
Pale  tyrants  shrink,  the  atheist  stands  aghast, 
And  impious  kings  in  horror  breath  their  last. 
To  this  great  God  alternately  Fd  pay 
The  evening  anthem,  and  the  morning  lay. 
For  sovereign  gold  I  never  would  repine, 
Nor  wish  the  glittering  dust  of  monarchs  mine* 
What  though  high  columns  heave  into  the  skiesy 
Gay  ceilings  shine,  and  vaulted  arches  rise  $ 


THE    POLAR    STAE. 

Tho'  fretted  gold  the  sculptured  roof  adorn, 

The  rubies  redden,  and  the  jaspers  burn ! 

Or  what,  alas  1  avails  the  gay  attire 

To  wretched  man,  \vho  breathes  but  to  expire ! 

O1V  on  the  vilest,  riches  are  bestow'd, 

To  shew  their  meanness  in  the  sight  of  God. 

High  from  a  dung-hill,  see  a  Dives  rise, 

And  Titan-like,  insult  th*  avenging  skies  : 

The  crowd,  in  adulation  calls  him  Lord, 

By  thousands  courted,  flattered,  and  ador'd  : 

In  riot  plung'd,  and  drunk  with  earthly  joys, 

No  higher  thought  his   grov'ling  soul  employs  5 

The  poor  he  scourges  with  an  iron  rod, 

And  from  his  bosom  banishes  his  God. 

But  oft*  in  height  of  wealth  and  beauty's  bloom, 

Deluded  man,  is  fated  to  the  tomb ! 

For,  lo  I  he  sickens,  swift  his  colour  flies, 

And  rising  mists  obscure  his  swimming  eyes : 

Around  hife  bed  his  weeping  friends  bemoan, 

Extort  th'  unwilling  tear,  and  wish  him  gone ; 

His  sorrowing  heir  augments  the  tender  show'r, 

Deplores  his  death — yet  hails  the  dying  hour. 

Ah  bitter  comfort !  Sad  relief  to  die ! 

Tho'  sunk  in  down,  beneath  the  canopy  ! 

His  eyes  no  more  shall  see  the  cheerful  light, 

"Weigh'd  down  by  death  in  everlasting  night : 

And  now  the  great,  the  rich,  the  proud,  the  gay, 

Lie  breathless,  cold — unanimated  clay  ! 

He  that  just  now  was  flatter'd  by  the  crowd, 

With  high  applause,  and  acclamations  loud  5 


236  THE   POJLAR    STAR. 

That  steel'd  his  bosom  to  the  orphan's  cries, 
And  drew  down  torrents  from  the  widow's  eyes) 
"Whom  like  a  God  the  rabble  did  adore — 
Regard  him  now — and,  lo  !  he  is  no  more. 

My  eyes  no  dazzling  vestments  should  behold 
With  gems  instarr'd,  and  stiff  with  woven  gold; 
But  the  tall  ram  his  downy  fleece  afford 
To  clothe,  in  modest  garb,  his  frugal  lord. 
Thus  the  great  father  of  mankind  was  drest, 
"When  shaggy  hides  compos'd  his  flowing  vest ; 
Doom'd  to  the  cumb'rous  load,  for  his  offence, 
When  clothes  supply'd  the  want  of  innocence  : 
But  now  his  sons  (forgetful  whence  they  came) 
Glitter  in  gems,  and  glory  in  their  shame. 

Oft'  would  I  wander  thro'  the  dewy  field, 
Where  clust'ring  roses  balmy  fragrance  yield; 
Or  in  lone  grots,  for  contemplation  made, 
Converse  with  angels  and  the  mighty  dead  : 
For  all  around  unnumber'd  spir  its  fly, 
Waft  on  the  breeze,  or  walk  the  liquid  sky, 
Inspire  the  poet  with  repeated  dreams, 
Who  gives  his  hallo w'd  muse  to  sacred  themes^ 
Protect  the  just,  serene  their  gloomy  hours, 
Becalm  their  slumbers,  and  refresh  their  pow'rs. 
Methinks  I  see  th*  immortal  beings  fly, 
And  swiftly  shoot  athwart  the  streaming  sky: 
Hark  !  a  melodious  voice  1  seem  to  hear, 
And  heav'nly  sounds  invade  my  list'ningear  f 


THE    POLAR    STAR. 

«  Be  not  afraid  of  us,  innoxious  band, 

«  Thy  cell  surrounding  by  divine  command ; 

"  E'er  while  like  thee,  we  led  our  lives  below, 

"  (Sad  lives  of  pain,  of  misery  and  woe !) 

«  Long  by  affliction's  boistVous  tempests  tost, 

"  We  reachM  at  length  the  ever  blissful  coast: 

"  Now    in   th*   embow'ring   groves,    and   lawns 

above, 

«  We  taste  the  raptures  of  immortal  love, 
66  Attune  the  golden  harp  in  roseate  bow'rs, 
«  Or  bind  our  temples  with  unfading  flow'rs. 
"  Oft5  on  kind  errands  bent,  we  cut  the  air, 
«  To  guard  the  righteous,  heavVs  peculiar  care  ! 
«  Avert   impending  harms,  their  minds  compose 
*<  Inspire  gay  dreams,  and  prompt  their  soft  re- 
pose. 

"  When  from  thy  tongue  divine  hosannas  roll, 
"  And  sacred  raptures  swell  thy  rising  soul, 
"  To  heav'n  we  bear  thy  pray'rs  like  rich  per- 
fumes, 

"  Where,  by  the  throne,  the  golden  censer  fumes 
"  And  when  with  age  thy  head  is  silver'd  o*er, 
"  And  cold  in  death,  thy  bosom  beats  no  more, 
<*  Thy  soul  exulting  shall  desert  its  clay, 
«  And  mount,  triumphant,  to  eternal  day." 
But  to  improve  the  intellectual  mind, 
Reading  should  be  to  contemplation  join'd* 
First  I'd  collect  from  the  Parnassian  spring, 
What  muses  dictate,  and  what  poets  sing.— 


238  TUB   POLAR   STAR. 

Virgil,    as    prince,  shou'd  wear    the    laurel'd 

crown. 

And  other  bards  pay  homage  to  his  throne  $ 
The  blood  of  heroes  now  effus'd  so  long, 
"Will  run  forever  purple  thro'  his  song. 
See !  how  he  mounts  toward  the  blest  abodes* 
On  planets  rides,  and  talks  with  demi-gods  ! 
How  do  our  ravish'd  spirits  melt  away, 
When  in  his  song  Sicilian  shepherds  play ! 
But  what  a  splendor  strikes  the  dazzled  eye* 
"When  'Dido  shines  in  awful  majesty  ! 
Embroidered  purple  clad  the  Tyriaii  queen. 
Her  motion  graceful,  and  august  her  mien  ^ 
A  golden  zone  her  royal  limbs  embraced, 
A  golden  quiver  rattled  by  her  waist. 
See  her  proud  steed  majestically  prance, 
Contemn  the  trumpet,  and  deride  the  lance  t 
In  crimson  trappings,  glorious  to  behold, 
Confusedly  gay  with  interwoven  gold  ! 
He  champs  the  bitt,  and  throws  the  foam  around, 
Impatient  paws,  and  tears  the  solid  ground. 
How  stern  jEneas  thunders  thro'  the  field! 
With  tow'ring  helmet,  and  refulgentjfshield ! 
Coursers  o'erturn'd,  and  mighty  warriors  slain, 
'Deform'd  with  gore,  lie  weltering  on  the  plain. 
Struck  thro'  with  wounds*  ill-fated  chieftains  lie,. 
Frown  e'en  in  death,  and  threaten  as  they  die. 
Thro'  the  thick  squadrons  see  the  hero  bound ! 
fjlis  helmet  Hashes,  and  his  arms  resound  I) 


THE   POtAK   STAR. 

All  grim  with  rage,  he  frown s  o'er  Turnus*  head, 
(Rekindled  ire !  for  blooming  Pallas  dead  !) 
Then  in  his  bosom  plung'd  the  shining  blade ! 
The  soul  indignant  sought  the  Stygian  shade ! 

The  far  fani'd  bards  that  grac'd  Britannia's  isle, 
Should  next  compose  the  venerable  pile. 
Great  Milton  first,  for  towering  thought  renown'd. 
Parent  of  song,  and  fam'd  the  world  around ! 
His  glowing  breast  divine  Urania  fir'd, 
Or  GOD  himself  th'  immortal  bard  inspired. 
Borne  on  triumphant  wings  he  takes  his  flight, 
Explores  all  heaven,  and  treads  the  realms  of 

light: 

In  martial  pomp  he  clothes  the  angelic  train, 
While  warring  myriads  shake  th*  ethenul  plain. 
First  Michael  stalks,  high  towering  o'er  the  rest 
"With  heav'nly  plumage  nodding  on  his  crest : 
Impenetrable  arms  his  limbs  infold, 
Eternal  adamant,  and  burning  gold ! 
Sparkling  in  fiery  mail,  with  dire  deligh|? 
Rebellious  Satan  animates  the  fight : 
Armipotent  they  sink  in  rolling  smoke, 
All  heav'n  resounding  to  its  centre  shook. 
To  crush  his  foes,  and  quell  the  dire  alarms 
Messiah  sparkled  in  refulgent  arms, 
In  radiant  panoply  divinely  bright 
His  limbs  incas'd,  he  flashed  devouring  light : 
On  burning  wheels,  o'er  heav'ns  crystaline  road! 
Thunder'd  the  chariot  of  thejilial  God  $ 


£40  THE   FOLAK   STAR. 

The  burning  wheels  on  golden  axles  turn'd* 
With  flaming  gems  the  golden  axles  burn'd. 
Lo  i  the  apostate  host,  with  terror  struck, 
Eoll  back  by  millions  I  Th'  empyrean  shook  I 
Sceptres,  and  orbit  shields,  and  crowns  of  gold> 
Cherubs  and  seraphs  in  confusion  rolPd ; 
Till  from  his  hand  the  triple  thunder  huri'd, 
Cotupeird  them,  headlong,  to  th*  infernal  world* 

Then  tuneful  Pope,  whom  i^ll  the  nine  inspire* 
"With  saphic  sweetness,  and  pindaric  lire. 
Father  of  verse  !  melodious  and  divine  ! 
Next  peerless  Milton  shou'd  dtstinguish'd  shine* 
Smooth  flow  numbers  whej,  he  paints  the  grove, 
Th*  inraptur'd  virgins  listing  into  Jove. 
But  when    the  night,    and   hoarse   resounding 

storm 

Rush  on  the  deep,  and  Neptune's  face  deform, 
Rough  runs  the  verse,  the  son'rous  numbers  roar 
Like  the    hoarse  surge  that  thunders  on  the 

shore. 

But  when  lie  sings  th'  exh  He  rated  swains, 
Tli"  emhofc'nng  groves,  and  Windsor's   blissful 

plains, 

Our  eyes  are  ravish'd  with  the  sylvan  scene, 
I  mbroidev'd  fio'ds,  and  groves  in  living  green  i 
His  lays  the  verdure  of  the  meads  prolong, 
And  v/ither'd  forests  blossom  in  his  song. 
Thame's  silver  streams  his  flowing  verse  admire* 
And  ecasc  to  murmur  while  he  tunes  his  lyre. 


THE   P01AK   STAK.  241 

Next  shou'd  appear  great  Dryden's  lofty  muse* 
For  who  would  Dryden's  polish'd  verse  refuse  ? 
His  lips  were  moist'ned  in  Parnassus'  spring, 
And  Phoebus  taught  his  laureat  son  to  sing. 
How  long  did  Virgil  untranslated  moan, 
His  beauties  fading,  and  his  flights  unknown; 
Till  Dryden  rose,  and,  in  exalted  strain, 
He-sang  the  fortune  of  the  god-like  man  ? 
Again  the  Trojan  prince,  with  dire  delight, 
Dreadful  in  arms,  demands  the  lingering  fight : 
Again  Camilla  glows  with  martial  fire, 
Drives  armies  back,  and  makes  all  Troy  retire. 
With  more  than  native  lus|re,  Virgil  shines, 
And  gains  sublimer  heights  in  Dry  den's  lines. 

The  gentle  Watts  who  strings  his  silver  lyre 
To  saered  odes,  and  heav'n's  all-ruling  fire  ; 
Who  scorns  th'  applause  of  the  licentious  stage, 
And  mounts  yon*  sparkling  worlds  with  hallow'd 

rage, 

Compels  my  thoughts  to  wing  the  heav'nly  road. 
And  wafts  my  soul,  exulting,  to  iny  God  ; 
No  fabled  Nine,  harmonious  bard  !  inspire 
Thy  rapt.ur'd  breast  with  such  seraphic  fire  ; 
But  prompting  Angels  warm  thy  boundless  rage* 
Direct  thy  thoughts,  and  animate  thy  page* 
Blest  man  !  for  spotless  sanctity  rever'd, 
LovM  by  the  good,  and  by  the  guilty  fear'd: 


THE   POLAtt    STAB* 

Blest  man  !  from  gay  delusive  scenes  remov'tf* 

Thy  maker  loving,  by  thy  maker  lov'd, 

To  God  Ihou  turn'st  fhy  consecrated  lays, 

Nor  meanly  blush  to  sing  Jehovah's  praise. 

Oh  !  did,  like  thee,  each  laurel'd  bard  delight 

To  paint  religion  in  her  native  light, 

Not  then  with  plays  the   laboring  press  would 

groan, 

Nor  vice  defy  the  pulpit  and  the  throne  •; 
No  impious  rhymers  charm  a  vicious  age, 
Nor  prostrate  virtue  groan  beneath  their  rage  : 
But  themes  divine  in  lofty  numbers  rise, 
Fill  the  wide  earth,  jjnd  echo  thro9  the  skies. 

These  for  delight  ;-*for  profit  I  would  read 
The  laboured  volumes  of  the  learned  dead. 
Sagacious  Locke,  by  Providence  designed 
T'  exalt,  instruct,  and  rectify  the  mind. 
rP  unconquerable  Sage*  whom  virtue  fiVdj 
And  from  the  tyrant's  lawless  rage  retir' 
When  victor  Csesar  freed  unhappy  Rome 
From  Pompey's  chains,  to  substitute  his  OWE, 
Longinus,Livy,  fam'd  Thueydides, 
Quintillian,  Plato,  and  Demosthenes^ 
Persuasive  TuHy,  and  Corduba's  sage,j 
Who  fell  by  Nero's  unrelenting  rage ; 
Him}  whom  ungrateful  Athens  doomed  to  bleed. 
Despis'd  when  living,  and  deplor'd  when  dead. 

*  Cato.  Seneca.       ^  Socrates. 


THE    POLAR   STAR. 

Raleigh  I'd  read  with  ever  fresh  delight, 
While  ages  past  rise  present  to  my  sight : 
Ah  man  unblest !  he  foreign  realms  explored? 
Then  fell  a  victim  to  his  country's  sword  ! 
Nor  should  great  Derham  pass  neglected  by,  "} 
Observant  sage  !  to  whose  deep-piercing  eye    ^» 
Nature's  stupendous  works  expanded  lie.          J 
Nor  he,  Britannia,  thy  unmatched  renown ! 
(Adjudged  to  wear  the  philosophic  crown) 
Who  on  the  solar  orb  uplifted  rode, 
And  scan'd  th'  unfathomable  works  of  God  ! 
Who  bound  the  silver  planets  to  their  spheres, 
And  tvac'd  th*  elliptic  curve  of  blazing  stars  ! 
Immortal  Newton ;  whose  illustrious  name 
Will  shine  on  records  of  eternal  fame. 

By  love  directed,  I  wou'd  choose  a  wife, 
T*  improve  my  bliss  and  ease  the  load  of  life. 
Hail  Wedlock  !  hail,  inviolable  tye  ! 
Perpetual  fountain  of  domestic  joy  ! 
Love,  friendship,  honour,  truth,  and  pure  delight 
Harmonious  mingle  in  the  nuptial  rite. 
In  Eden  first  the  holy  state  began, 
When  perfect  innocence  distinguished  man; 
The  human  pair,  th'  Almighty  Pontiff  led, 
Gay  as  the  morning,  to  the  bridal  bed  ; 
A  dread  solemnity  th9  espousals  graced, 
Angels  the  witnesses,  and  God  the  priest ! 
AH  earth  exulted  on  the  nuptial  hour, 
And  voluntary  roses  deek'd  the  bow'r  | 


THE   POLAR   STAR. 

The  joyous  birds  on  ev'ry  blossomed  spray* 
Sung  Hymeneans  to  th'  important  day, 
While  Philomela  swell'd  the  spousal  song, 
And  Paradise  with  gratulation  rung. 

Relate,  inspiring  muse !  where  shall  I  find 
A  blooming  virgin  with  an  angel  mind  ? 
Unblemish'd  as  the  white-rob'd  virgin  quire 
That  fed,  O  Rome  /  thy  consecrated  fire  I 
By  reason  aw'd,  ambitious  to  be  good, 
Averse  to  vice,  and  zealous  for  her  God  I 
Relate,  in  what  blest  region  can  I  find 
Such  bright  perfections  in  a  female  mind  ? 
What  Phw nix- woman  breaths  the  vital  air 
So  greatly  good,  and  so  divinely  fair? 
Sure,  not  the  gay  and  fashionable  train, 
Licentious,  proud,  immoral,  and  profane; 
Who  spend  their  golden  hours  in  antic  dress, 
Malicious  whispers,  and  inglorious  ease. — 

Lo !  round  the  board  a  shining  train  appears 
In  rosy  beauty,  and  in  prime  of  years! 
This  hates  a  flounce,  and  this  a  flounce  approves, 
This  shews  the  trophies  of  her  former  loves ; 
Polly  avers  that  Sylvia  drest  in  green, 
When  last  at  church  the  gaudy  Nymph  was  seen 
Chloe  condems  her  optics,  and  will  lay 
'Twas  azure  sattin,  interstreak'd  with  grey ; 
Lucy  invested  with  judical  pow'r, 

'twas  neither and  the  strife  is  o'er. 


THE   POLAR   STAR. 

Then    parrots,  lap-dogs,    monkeys,     squirrels, 

beaux, 

Fans,  ribbands,  tuckers,  patches,  furbeloes, 
In  quick  succession,  thro'  their  fancies  run, 
And  dance  incessant  on  the  flippant  tongue. 
And  when  fatigu'd  with  ev'ry  other  sport, 
The  belles  prepare  to  grace  the  sacred  court, 
They  marshal  all  their  forces  in  array, 
To  kill  with  glances  and  destroy  in  play. 
Two  skilful  maids  with  reverential  fear 
In  wanton  wreaths  collect  their  silken  hair; 
Two  paint  their  cheeks,  and  round  their  temples 

pour 

The  fragrant  unguent, and th' ambrosial  shower; 
One  pulls  the  shape-creating  stays  and  one 
Encircles  round  her  waist  the  golden  zone ; 
Not  with  more  toil  t'  improve  immortal  charms, 
Strove  Juno,  Venus,  and  the  Qiieen  of  JLrms. 
When  Priam's  sons  adjudg'd  the  golden  prize, 
To  the  resistless  beauty  of  the  skies. 
At  length  equip'd  in  love's  enticing  arms, 
With  all  that  glitters  and  with  all  that  charms, 
Th'  ideal  goddesses  to  church  repair, 
Peep  thro'  the  fan  and  mutter  o'er  a  pray'r, 
Or  listen  to  the  organ's  pompous  sound, 
Or  eye  the  gilded  images  around  ; 
Or,  deeply  studied  in  coquettish  rules, 
Aim  wily  glances  at  unthinking  fools; 
Or  shew  the  lily  hand  with  graceful  air, 
Or  wound  the  fopling  with  a  lock  of  hair : 


246  THE  POIAK   STAB. 

And  when  the  hated  discipline  is  o'er, 
And  misses  tortur'd  with  repent  no  more, 
They  mount  .the  pictured  coach,  and  to  the  play* 
The  celebrated  idols  hie  away. 

Not  so  the  lass  that  shou'd  iny  joys  improve, 
With  solid  friendship,  and  connubial  love : 
A  native  bloom,  with  intermingled  white, 
Should  set  her  features  in  a  pleasing  light ; 
Like  Helen  flushing  with  unrival'd  charms, 
"When  raptur'd  Paris  darted  in  her  arms. 
But  what,  alas  !  avails  a  ruby  cheek, 
A  downy  bosom,  or  a  snowy  neck  ! 
Charms  ill  supply  the  want  of  innocence, 
Nor  beauty  forms  intrinsic  excellence ; 
But  in  her  breast  let  moral  beauties  shine, 
Supernal  grace  and  purity  divine : 
Sublime  her  reason,  and  her  native  wit 
Unstrain'd  with  pedantry,  and  low  conceit : 
Her  fancy  lively,  and  her  judgment  free 
From  female  prejudice  and  bigotry  : 
Averse  to  idle  pomp,  and  outward  show, 
The  flatt'ring  coxcomb,  and  fantastic  beau. 
The  fop's  impertinence  she  should  despise, 
Tho*  sorely  wounded  by  her  radiant  eyes  ; 
But  pay  due  reverence  th'  exalted  mind 
By  learning  polish'd,  and  by  wit  retin'd, 
Who  all  her  virtues,  without  guile,  commends* 
And  all  her  faults  as  freely  reprehends. 


THE  POIAR   STAR* 

Soft  Hymen's  rites  her  passion  should  approve, 
And  in  her  bosom  glow  the  flames  of  love: 
To  me  her  soul,  by  sacred  friendship,  turn, 
And  I,  for  her,  with  equal  friendship  burn  : 
In  ev'ry  stage  of  life  afford  relief, 
Partake  my  joys,  and  sympathize  my  grief; 
Unshaken,  walk  in  virtue's  peaceful  road, 
Nor  bribe  her  reason  to  pursue  the  mode ; 
Mild  as  the  saint  whose  errors  are  forgiv'n, 
Calm  as  a  vestal,  and  composed  as  heav'n. 
This  be  the  partner,  this  the  lovely  wife 
That  should  embellish  and  prolong  my  life ; 
A  nymph  !  who  might  a  second  fall  inspire, 
And  fill  a  glowing  Cherub  with  desire,! 
With  her  Pd  spend  the  pleasurable  day, 
While  fleeting  minutes  gayly  danc'd  away  : 
With  her  Pd  walk  delighted,  o'er  the  green, 
Thro'  ev'ry  blooming  mead,  and  rural  scene, 
Or  sit  in  open  fields  damask'd  with  flowr's, 
Or  where   cool   shades  imbrown  the  noon-tide 

bow'rs, 

Imparadis'd  within  my  eager  arms, 
Pd  reign  the  happy  monarch  of  her  charms; 
Oft*  on  her  panting  bosom  would  I  lay, 
And,  in  dissolving  raptures,  melt  away ; 
Then  luil'd,  by  nightingales,  to  balmy  rest, 
My  blooming  fair  shou'd  slumber  at  my  breast. 

And  when  decriped  age  (frail  mortal's  doom !) 
Should  bend  my  wither'd  body  to  the  tomb, 


THE   TOLAll   STAK. 

N"o  warbling  Syrens  should  retard  my  flight 
To  heav'nly  mansions  of  unclouded  light. 
Tho'  death  with  his  imperial  horrors  erown'd* 
Terrific  grinn'd,  and  formidably  frown'd, 
Offences  pardon'd  and  remitted  sin, 
Should  form  a  calm  serenity  within  : 
Blessing  my  n«*tal  and  my  mortal  hour, 
(My  soul  committed  to  th*  eternal  pow'r) 
Inexorable  Death  should  smile,  for  I 
"Wiio  knew  to  LIVE,  would  never  fear  to  DIE. 


Learning  a  necessary  accomplishment  in  a  woman 
of  quality  or  for  tune. 

I.I  HAVE  often  wondered  that  learning  is  not 
thought  w.  pro •:*<»  r  ingredient  in  the  education  of  a 
^\'  man  of  cjci-^Hy  or  fortune.  Since  they  have 
the  ^ame  improvable  minds  as  the  male  part  of 
the  sper'ies,  w!f*»  liould  they  not  be  cultivated  by 
the  s'-i.me  method?  why  should  reason  be  left  to 
itsf-H'in  one  of  t\*r*  sexes,  and  be  disciplined  with 
so  nnjch  care  to  the  other  ? 

2.  There  are  some  reasons  why  learning  seems 
more ;  adiipled  to  the  female  wor'd  than  to  the 
male.  As  in  the  first  place,  because  they  have 
more  svure  time  upon  their  hands,  and  lead  a 
move  sedentary  life.  Their  employments  are  of 


THE   rOLAB    STAR.  249 

a  domestic  nature,  and  ryit  like  those  oF  the  oth- 
er sex,  which  are  often  inconsistent  with  study 
and  contemplation. 

3.  The  excellent  lady,  the  lady  Lizard,  in  the 
space  of  one  summer  furnished  a  gallery  with 
chairs  and  couches  of  her  own  and  her  daugh- 
ters'working;  and  at  the  same  time  heard   ail 
Dr.  THiotsou's  sermons  twice  over.     It  is  always 
the  custom  for  one  of  the  young  ladies  to  read, 
while  the  others  are  at  work ;  so  that  the  learn- 
ing of  the  family  is  not  at  all  prejudicial  to  its 
manufacturers. 

4.  I  was  mightily  pleased  the  other  day  to  find 
them  all  husy  in  preserving  several  fruits  of  the 
season,  with  the  Sparkler  in  the  midst  of  them, 
reading  over  <  The  plurality  of  worlds.'     It  was 
very  entertaining  to  me  to  see  them  dividing  their 
speculations  between  jellies  and  stars,  and  ma- 
king a  sudden  transition  from  the  sun  to  an  apri- 
cot, or  from  the  Copernican  system  to  the  figure 
of  a  cheese  cake. 

5.  A  second  reason  why  women  should  apply 
themselves  to  useful  knowledge  rather  than  men, 
is  because  they  have  that  natural  gift  of  speech 
in  greater   perfection.     Since   they  have  so  ex- 
cellent a  talent,  such  a  Copia  Verlorum,  or  plen- 
ty of  words,  it  is  pity  they  should  not  put  it  to 
some  use.     If  the  female  tongue  will  be  in  mo~ 
tion,  why  should  it  not  be  set  to  go  right?  Could 


250  THE    POLAR    STAK. 

ihey  discourse  about  the  spots  in  the  sun,  it  might 
divert  them  from  publishing  the  faults  of  their 
neighbors:  could  they  talk  of  the  different  as- 
pects and  conjunctions  of  the  planets,  they  need 
not  be  at  the  pains  to  comment  upon  oglings  and 
clandestine  marriages.  In  short,  were  they  fur- 
nished with  matters  of  fact,  out  of  arts  and  sci- 
ences, it  would  now  and  then  be  of  great  ease  to 
their  invention. 

6.  There  is  another  reason  why  those,  espe« 
cially  who  are  women  of  quality,  should  apply 
themselves  to  letters,  namely,,  because  their  hus- 
bands are  generally  strangers  to  them.  It  is  great 
pity  there  should  be  no  knowledge  in  a  family. 
For  my  own  part,  I  am  concerned  when  I  go  into 
a  great  house,  where  perhaps  there  is  not  a  sin- 
gle person  that  can  spell,  unless  it  be  by  chance 
the  butler,  or  one  of  the  footmen.     TVhat  a  fig- 
ure is  the  young  heir  likely  to  make,  who  is  a 
dunce  both  by  father  and  mother's  side  ? 

7.  If  we  look  into  the  histories  of  famous  wo- 
men, we  find  many  eminent  philosophers  of  this 
sex.     Nay,  we  find  that  several  females  have  dis- 
tinguished themselves  in  those  sects  of  philoso- 
phy which  seem  almost  repugnant  to  their  na- 
tures.    There  have  been  famous  female  Pytha- 
goreans, notwithstanding  most  of  that  philosophy 
consisted  in  keeping  a  secret,  and  that  the  disci- 
ple was  to  hold  her  tongue  five  years  together* 


THE    POiAR    STAK.  251 

8.  Learning  and  knowledge  are  perfections  ia 
us,  not  as  we  are  men,  but  as  we  are  reasonable 
creatures,  in  wbich  order  of  beings  the  female 
world  is  upon  the  same  level  with  the  male.    We 
ought  to  consider  in  this  particular,  not  what  is 
the  sex,  but  what  is  the  species  to  which  they  be- 
long.    At  least,  I-  believe  every  one  will  allow 
me,  that  a  female  philosopher  is  not  so  absurd  a 
character  and  so  opposite  to  the  sex,  as  a  female 
gamester;  and  that  it  is  more  irrational  for  a 
woman  to  pass  away  half  a  dozen  hours  at  cards 
or  dice,  than  in  getting  up  stores  of  useful  learn- 
ing. 

9.  This  therefore   is   another  reason   why  I 
would  recommend  the  studies  of  knowledge  to 
the  female  world,  that  they  may  not  be  at  a  loss 
how  to  employ  those  hours  that  lie  upon  their 
bands. 

10.  I  might  also  add  this  motive  to  my  fair 
readers,  that  several  of  their  sex,  who  have  im- 
proved their  minds  by  honks  and  literature,  have 
raised  themselves  to  the  highest  posts  of  honour 
and  fortune.     A  neighbouring  nation  may  at  this 
time  furnish  us  with  a  very  remarkable  instance 
of  this  kind ;  but  I  shall  conclude  this  head  with 
the  history  of  Athenais,  which   is  a  very  signal 
example  to  my  present  purpose. 

11.  The  emneror  Tkeodosius  b?ing  about  the 
age  of  one-and- twenty,  and  designing  to  take  a 


THE   POLAE   STAB, 

wife,  desired  his  sister  Puleheria  and  his  friend 
Paulinus  to  search  his  whole  empire  for  a  woman 
of  the  most  exquisite  beauty  and  highest  accom- 
plishments. In  the  midst  of  this  search,  Athe- 
nars,  a  grecian  virgin,  accidentally  offered  herself* 
Her  father,  who  was  an  eminent  philosopher  of 
Athens,  and  had  bred  her  up  in  all  the  learning 
of  that  place,  at  his  death  left  her  but  a  very 
small  portion,  in  which  also  she  suffered  great 
hardships  from  the  in  justice  of  her  two  brothers. 

12.  This  forced  her  upon  a  journey  to   Con- 
stantinople, where  she  had  a  relation  who  repre- 
sented her  case  to  Pulcheria,  in  order  to  obtain, 
some  redress  from  the  emperor.     By  this  means 
that  religious  princess  became  acquainted  with 
Athenais,  whom   she  found  the  most  beautiful 
woman,  of  her  age*  and  educated  under  a  long^ 
course  of  philosophy  in  the  strictest  virtue  and 
most  unspotted  innocence. 

13.  Pulcheria  was  charmed  with  her  conver- 
sation, and  immediately  made  her  report  to  the 
emperor  her  brother  Theodosius.     The  charac- 
ter she  gave  made  such  an  impression  on  him, 
that  he  desired  his  sister  to  bring  her  away  im- 
mediately to  the  lodgings  of  his  friend  Paulinus, 
where  lie  found  her  beauty  and  her  conversation 
feeyowid  the  highest  idea  he  had  framed  of  them. 

14.  His   friend    Paulinus   converted    her     to 

and  gave  her  the  name  of  Eudosia  | 


THE   POLAR    STAR.  2%} 

after  which  the  emperor  publicly  espoused  her, 
and  enjoyed  all  the  happiness  in  his  marriage 
which  he  promised  himself  from  such  a  virtuous 
and  learned  bride.  She  not  only  forgave  the 
injuries  which  her  two  brothers  had  done  her, 
but  raised  them  to  great  honours  ;  and  by  seve- 
ral works  of  learning,  as  well  as  by  an  exem- 
plary life,  made  herself  so  dear  to  the  whole 
empire,  that  she  had  many  statues  erected  to  hep 
memory,  and  is  celebrated  by  the  fathers  of  the 
church  as  an  ornament  of  her  sex. 


$.  life  of  virtue  preferable  to  a  life  of  pleasure? 
exemplified  in  the  choice  of  Hercules. 

1.  WHEN  Hercules,  says  the  divine  Prodiews, 
was  in  that  part  of  his  youth,  in  which   it  was 
natural   far  him  to  consider  what  course  of  life 
he  ought  to  pursue,  he  one  day  retired  into  a  de- 
sert, where  the  silence  and  solitude  of  the  place 
very  mueh  favoured  his  meditations. 

2.  As  he  was  musing  on  his  present  condition, 
and  very  much  perplexed  in  himself  on  the  state 
of  life  ho  should  choose,  he  saw  two  women  of  a 
larger   stature    than    ordinary  approaching  to- 
wards him.     One  of  them  had  a  very  noble  air 
and  graceful  deportment ;  her  beauty  was  natu- 
ral and  easy  ;  her  person  clean  and  unspotted; 


25 i  THE    POLAR   STAR, 

her  eyes  cast  towards  the  ground,  with  an  agree- 
able reserve;  her  motion  and  behaviour  full  of 
modesty;  and  her  raiment  as  white  as  snow. 

3.  The  other  had  a  great  deal  of  health  and 
floriclness    in   her   countenance,   which  she  had 
helped  with  an  artificial  white  and  red,  and  endea- 
voured to  appear  more  graceful  than  ordinary  in 
her  mein,  by  a  mixture   of  affectation  in  all  her 
gestures.     She  had  a  wonderful   confidence  and 
assurance  in  her  looks,  and  all  the  variety  of  co- 
lours in   her  dress  that   she  thought   were  the 
most  proper  to   show  her  complexion  to  an  ad- 
vantage.    She  cast  her  eyes   upon  herself,   then 
turned    them  on  those  that  were  present  to  see 
how   they   liked   her,    and    often  looked  on  the 
figure  she  made  in  her  own  shadow. 

4.  Upon  her  nearer  approach  to  Hercules,  she 
stepped  before  the  other  lady,   who  came   for- 
ward  with    a   regular  composed   carriage,  and 
running  up  to  him,  accosted  him,  after  the  fol- 
lowing manner. 

5.  My  dear    Hercules,   says   she,  I  find  you 
are  very  much  divided  in  jour  own  thoughts  up- 
on the  way  of  life  that  you  ought  to  chuse  :  be 

my  friend  and  fol'ow  me;  I  will  lead  you  into 
the  possession  of  pleasure  and  out  of  the  reach 
of  pain,  and  remove  you  from  ul I  the  noise  and 
disquietude  of  business.  The  affairs  of  either 
war  or  peace  shall  have  no  power  to  disturb  you. 


THE   POLAR    STAR.  255 

Your  whole  employment  shall  be  to  make  your 
life  easy,  and  to  entertain  every  sense  with  its 
proper  gratifications.  Sumptuous  tables,  beds  of 
roses,  clouds  of  perfumes,  concerts  of  music, 
crowds  of  beauties,  are  all  inreadiness  to  receive 
you.  Come  along  with  me  into  this  region  of 
delights,  this  world  of  pleasure,  and  bid  fare- 
well for  ever  to  care,  to  pain,  and  to  busi- 
ness. 

6.  Hercules  hearing  the  lady  talk  after  this 
manner,  desired  to  know  her  name  ;  to  which 
she  answered,  my  friends,  and  those  who  are  well 
acquainted  with  me,  call  me  Happiness  ;  but  my 
enemies,  and  those  who  would  injure  my  reputa- 
tion, have  given  me  the  name  of  Pleasure. 

7.  By  this  time  the  other  lady  was  come  up, 
who  addressed  herself  to   the  young  hero  in  a 
very  different  manner. 

Hercules,  says  she,  I  offer  myself  to  you,  be- 
cause I  know  you  are  descended  from  the  gods, 
and  give  proofs  of  that  descent  by  your  love  to 
virtue,  and  application  to  the  studies  proper  to 
your  age.  Tbis  makes  me  liope  you  will  gain 
both  for  yourself  and  me  an  immortal  reputa- 
tion. But  before  I  invite  you  into  my  society 
and  friendship,  I  will  be  open  and  sincere  with 
you,  and  must  lay  down  this  as  an  established 
trutb,  that  there  is  nothing  truly  valuable  which 
can  be  purchased  without  pains  and  labour, 


256  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

8.  The  Gods  have  set  a  price  upon  every  real 
and  noble  pleasure.      If  you  would  gain  the  fa- 
vour of  the  Deity,  you   must  he  at  the  pains  of 
worshipping  him  ;  if  the  friendship  of  good  men, 
you  must  study  to  oblige  them  ;  if  you  would  be 
honoured  by  your  country,  you  must  take  care 
to  serve  it.      In   short,  if  you  would  be  eminent 
in  war  or  peace,  you  must  become  master  of  all 
the  qualifications  that  can  make  you  so.     These 
are  the  only  terms  and  conditions  upon  which  I 
can  propose  happiness.     The  goddess  of  pleasure 
here  broke  in  upon  her  discourse  : 

9.  You  see,  said    she,   Hercules,  by  her   own 
confession,  the  way  to  her  pleasure  is  long  and 
difficult,  whereas  that  which  I  propose  is  short 
and  easy.      Alas  !  said   the  other  lady,  whose 
visage  glowed  with  a  passion   made  up  of  scorn 
and  pity,  what  are  the* pleasures  you  propose? 
To  cat  before  you  are  hungry,  drink  before  you 
are  thirsty,  sleep  before  you  are  tired,  to  gratify 
appetites  before  they  are  raised,  and  raise  such 
appetites  as  nature  never  planted. 

10.  You  never  heard  the  most  delicious  music, 
which  is  the  praise  of  one's   self,  nor  saw  the 
most  beautiful  object,  which  is  the  work  of  one's 
own  hands.    Your  votaries  pass  away  their  youth 
in    a  drearn   of  mistaken  pleasures,  while  they 
are  hoarding  up  anguish,  torment,  and  remorse 
for  old  age. 


THE   Pf^AR    STAR.  257 

11.  As  for  me,   I  ani  a  friend  of  the  gods  and 
of  good  men,  an  agreeable  cortimmion  to  the  ar- 
tisan, a  houshold  guardian  to  the  fathers  of  fami- 
lies, a  patron  and  protector  of  servants,  an  asso- 
ciate in  all  (rue  and  generous  friendships.      The 
banquets  of  my  votaries  are  never  costly,  hut  al- 
\va\s   delicious;  for  none  eat  or  drink   at   them 
\vJ»o  are  .not  invited  by  hunger  and  (hirst.  Their 
slumbers  are  sound*  and  their  wakings  cheerful. 

12.  My  young  men  have  the  pleasure  of  hear- 
ing themselves  praised  by  those  who  are  in  years, 
of  being  honoured  by  those  who  are  young.      In 
a  wo*d.  my  followers  are  favoured  by  the  gods, 
beloved  by  their  acquaintance,  esteemed  by  their 
country,   and   after  the   close   of  their    labours, 
honoured  by  posterity. 

1.5.  We  know  by  the  life  of  this  memorable 
hero,  to  which  of  these  two  ladies  he  gave  up  his 
heart  ;  and  I  believe,  every  one  who  rends  this, 
\vi!)  do  him  the  justice  to  approve  his  choice. 

li.  I  very  much  admire  the  speeches  of  these 
ladies,  as  containing  in  them  the  chief  arguments 
for  a  life  of  virtue,  or  a  life  of  pleasure,  that 
could  enter  into  the  thoughts  of  an  heathen  :  but 
am  particularly  pleased  with  the  different  figures 
he  gives  the  two  goddesses.  Our  modern  au- 
thors have  represented  pleasure  or  vice  with  an 
alluring  face,  but  ending  in  snakes  and  monsters: 
here  she  appears  in  ail  the  charms  of  beauty. 


258  THE  POLAR  STAR. 

though  they  are  all  false  and  borrowed ;  and  by 
that  means  composes  a  vision  entirely  natural 
and  pleasing. 

15.  I  have  translated  this  allegory  for  the  be- 
nefit of  the  youth  in  general ;  and  particularly  of 
those  who  are  still  in  the  deplorable  state  of  non- 
existence*   and  whom  1  most  earnestly  intreat  to 
come  into  the  world.     Let  my  embryos  shew  the 
least  inclination  to  any  single  virtue,  and  I  shall 
allow  it  to  be  a  struggling  towards  birth* 

16.  I  do  not  expect  of  them  that,  like  the  hero 
in  the  foregoing  story,  they  should  go  about  as 
soon  as  they  are  born,  with  a  club  in  their  hands, 
and  a  lion's  skin  on  their  shoulders,    to  root  out 
monsters  and  destroy  tyrants ;  but  as  the  finest 
author  of  all  antiquity  has  said  upon  this  very 
occasion,  though  a  man  has  not  the  abilities  to 
distinguish  himself  in  the  most  shining  parts  of 
a  great  character,  he  has  certainly  the  capacity 
of  being  just,  faithful,  modest,  and  temperate* 


THE 
FAMILY  PHYSICIAN 

Selected  from  the  most  emminent  aulhorjjjn  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  globe 9  of  which  Win.  Buchan 
is  the  chief.  With  preventatwes  as  well  as 
cure  of  diseases9  with  the  most  particular  in- 
structions in  the  administration  of  the  differ- 
ent medicines ;  so  that  any  person  belonging  to 
the  family  may  with  the  greatest  safety  admi- 
nister any  of  the  within  medicine  to  any  pa- 
tient whatever. 

TO  PREVENT  SICKNESS  IS  MUCH  PRE- 
FERABLE TO  CUKE. 

The  best  method  of  fortifying  the  body  against 
the  changes  of  the  weather,  is  to  be  abroad  eve- 
ry day.  Those  who  keep  most  within  doors  are 
most  liable  to  catch  cold*  feud)  persons  general- 
ly render  themselves  so  delicate  as  to  feel  even 
the  slightest  changes  in  the  atmosphere,  and  by 
their  pains,  coughs,  and  oppressions  of  the  breast, 
&c.  they  become  a  kind  of  living  barometers. 

Wet  Clothes. 

Wet  clothes  not   only   by  their  coldness  ob- 
struct the  perspiration,   but  their  moisture,  by 
being  absorbed,  or  taken  up  into  the  body,  great* 
w 


260  THE   P01UR   STAK. 

]y  increases  the  danger.  The  most  robust  con- 
stitution is  not  proof  against  the  danger  arising 
from  wet  clothes  ;  they  daily  occasion  fevers, 
rheumatisms,  and  other  fatal  disorders,  even  in 
the  young  and  healthy. 

It  is  impossible  for  people  who  go  frequently 
abroad  to  avoid  sometimes  being  wet.  But  the 
danger  might  generally  be  lessened,  if  not  wholly 
prevented,  by  changing  their  clothes  soon  ;  when 
this  cannot  be  done,  they  should  keep  in  motion 
till  they  be  dry.  So  far  are  many  from  taking 
this  precaution,  that  they  often  sit  or  lie  down 
in  the  fields  with  their  clothes  wet,  and  fre- 
quently sleep  even  whole  nights  in  this  condition. 
The  frequent  instances  which  we  have  of  the  fa- 
tal effects  of  this  conduct,  ought  certainly  to  de- 
ter others  from  being  guilty  of  it. 

Wet  Feet. 

Even  wet  feet  occasion  fatal  diseases.  The 
tolic,  inflammations  of  the  breast  and  of  the 
bowels,  the  iliac  passion,  cholera  tnorbus,  &c. 
are  often  occasioned  by  wet  feet.  Habit  will, 
no  doubt,  render  this  less  dangerous ;  but  it  ought, 
as  far  as  possible,  to  be  avoided.  The  delicate, 
and  those  who  are  not  accustomed  to  have  their 
clothes  or  feet  wet,  should  be  peculiarly  careful 
in  this  respect. 


THE    POLAH    STAK.  201 

Night  Jlir. 

The  perspiration  is  often  obstructed  by  night 
air;  even  in  summer,  this  ought  to  be  avoided. 
The  dews  which  fail  plentifully  after  the  hottest 
day,  make  the  night  more  dangerous  than  when 
the  weather  is  cool.  Hence,  in  warm  countries, 
the  evening  dews  ^are  more  hurtful  than  where 
the  climate  is  more  temperate. 

It  is  very  agreeable  after  a  warm  day  to  be 
abroad  in  the  cool  evening;  but  this  is  a  plea- 
sure to  be  avoided  by  all  who  value  their  health. 
The  effects  of  evening  dews  are  gradual  indeed, 
and  almost  imperceptible  ;  but  they  are  not  the 
less  to  be  dreaded :  we  would  therefore  advise 
travellers,  labourers,  and  all  who  are  much  heat- 
ed by  day,  carefully  to  avoid  them.  IVhen  the 
perspiration  has  been  great,  these  become  dan- 
gerous in  proportion.  By  not  attending  to  this, 
in  flat  marshy  countries,  where  the  exhalations 
and  dews  are  copious,  labourers  arc  often  seized 
with  intermitting  fevers,  quinseys,  and  other, 
dangerous  diseases. 

Damp  Beds. 

Beds  become  damp  either  from  their  not  be- 
ing used,  standing  in  damp  houses,  or  in  rooms 
•without  fire.  Nothing  is  more  to  be  dreaded  by 
travellers  than  damp  beds,  ^which  ace  very  etim- 


THE    POLAR 

inon  in  all  places  where  fuel  Is  scarce.  When  a 
traveller,  cold  and  wet,  arrives  tit  an  inn,  he  may 
l>y  means  of  a  good  fire,  warm  diluting  liquor* 
and  a  dry  bed,  have  the  perspiration  restored; 
but  if  he  be  put  into  a  cold  room,  and  laid  on  a 
damp  bed,  it  will  be  more  obstructed,  and  the 
worst  consequences  will  ensue.  Travellers 
should  avoid  inns  which  are  noted  for  damp  beds, 
as  they  would  a  house  infected  with  the  plague, 
as  no  man,  however  robust,  is  proof  against  the 
danger  Arising  from  them. 

But  inns  are  not  the  only  places  where  damp 
beds  are  to  be  met  with.  Beds  kept  in  private 
families  for  the  reception  of  strangers  are  often 
equally  dangerous.  All  kinds  of  linen  and  bed- 
ding, when  not  frequently  used,  become  damp. 
How  then  is  it  possible  that  beds,  which  are  not 
slept  in  above  two  or  three  times  a  year,  should 
be  safe?  Nothing  is  more  common  than  to  hear 
people  complain  of  having  caught  cold  by  chang- 
ing their  bed.  The  reason  is  obvious  :  were 
they  careful  never  to  sleep  in  a  bed  but  what  was 
frequently  use d,  they  would  seldom  find  any  ill 
consequences  from  a  change. 

Nothing  is  more  to  be  dreaded  by  a  delicate 
person  when  on  a  visit,  than  being  laid  in  a  bed 
which  is  kept  on  purpose  for  strangers.  That 
ill  judged  piece  of  complaisance  becomes  a  real 
injury,  All  the  bad  consequences  from  this 


TIMS  ror,  VR  STAR.  263 

quarter  might  easily  be  prevented  in  private  fa- 
milies, by  causing  their  servants  to  sleep  iq  the 
spare  beds,  and  resign  them  to  strangers-  when 
they  come.  In  inns  where  the  beds  are  used  al- 
most every  night,  nothing  else  is  necessary  than 
to  keep  the  rooms  well  seasoned  by  frequent 
fires,  and  the  linen  dry* 

That  baneful  custom  said  to  be  practised  in 
many  inns,  of  damping  sheets,  and  pressing  them 
in  order  to  save  washing,  uud  afterwards  laying 
them  on  the  beds,  ought,  when  discovered,  to  be 
punished  with  the  utmost  severity.  It  is  really 
a  species  of  murder,  and  will  often  prove  as  fa- 
tal as  poison  or  gun-shot.  Indeed,  no  linen, 
especially  if  it  has  been  washed  in  winter,  ought 
to  be  used  till  it  has  been  exposed  for  some  time 
to  the  fire  ;  nor  is  this  operation  less  necessary 
for  linen  washed  in  summer,  provided  it  has  Iain 
by  for  any  length  of  time.  This  caution  is  the 
more  needful,  as  gentlemen  are  often  exceeding- 
ly attentive  to  what  they  eat  or  drink  at  an  inn, 
yet  pay  no  regard  to  a  circumstance  of  much 
more  importance.* 

*  If  a  person  suspccls  that  his  bed  is  damp, 
the  simple-  precaution  of  taking  off  the  sheets  and 
lying  in  the  blankets,  with  all,  or  most  of  his 
clothes  on,  will  prevent  all  the  danger.  I  have 
practised  this  for  many  years,  and  never  have 
been  hurt  by  damp  bi'ds,  though  no  constitution? 
without  care*  is  proof  against  ilieir  baneful  influ- 
ence. 


£#*  THE   POLAR  STAR, 

Damp  Houyes. 

Damp  houses  frequently  produce  the  like  ill 
consequences;  for  this  reason  those  who  build 
should  be  careful  to  choose  a  dry  situation.  A 
house  which  stands  on  a  damp  marshy  soil  or 
deep  clay,  will  never  be  thoroughly  dry.  All 
houses,  unless  where  tF^e  ground  is  exceeding 
dry,  should  have  the  first  floor  a  little  raised.—. 
Servants  and  others,  who  are  obliged  to  live  in 
cellars  and  sunk  stories,  seldom  continue  long  in 
health ;.  masters  ought  surely  to  pay  some  re- 
gard to  the  health  of  their  servants,  as  well  a§ 
to  their  own. 

Nothing  is  more  common  than  for  people, 
Hierely  to  avoid  some  trifling  ineonvenieney,  to 
hazard  their  lives,  by  inhabiting  a  house  almost 
as  soon  as  the  masons,  plasterers,  £c.  have  done 
with  it :  such  houses  are  not  only  dangerous 
from  their  dampness,  but  likewise  from  the  smell 
of  lime,  paint,  &e.  The  asthmas,  consumptions, 
and  other  diseases  of  the  lungs,  so  incident  to 
people  who  work  in  these  articles,  are  sufficient 
proofs  of  their  being  unwholesome. 

Rooms  are  often  rendered  damp  by  an  unsea- 
sonable piece  of  cleanliness ;  I  mean  the  pernici- 
ous custom  of  washing  them  immediately  before 
company  is  put  into  them.  Most  people  catch 
oold,  if  they  sit  but  a  very  short  time  in  a  room- 
that  has  been  lately  washed  ;  the  delicate  ought 
carefully  to  avoid  such  a  situation,  and  even  the 


THE   POI.AK   STAR. 

robust  are  not  always  proof  against  Us  influ- 
ence.* 

Sudden  transitions  from  Jieat  to  cold. 

THE  perspiration  is  frequently  obstructed  by 
sudden  transitions  from  beat  to  cold.  Colds  are 
seldom  caught,  unless  when  people  have  been  too 
much  heated.  Heat  rarities  tbe  blood,  quickens 
the  circulation,  and  enereases  the  perspiration  5 
but  when  these  are  suddenly  checked,  the  conse- 
quences must  be  bad.  It  is  indeed  impossible 
for  labourers  not  to  be  too  hot  upon  some  occa- 
sions ;  but  it  is  generally  in  their  power  to  let 
themselves  cool  gradually,  to  put  on  their  clothes 
when  they  leave  off  work,  to  make  choice  efa 
dry  place  to  rest  themselves  in,  and  to  avoid 
sleeping  in  the  open  fields.  These  easy  rules,  if 
observed,  would  often  prevent  fevers  and  other 
fatal  disorders. 

It  is  very  common  for  people,  when  hot,  to 
drink  freely  of  eold  water,  or  small  liquors. 
This  conduct  is  extremely  dangerous.  Thirst 
indeed  is  hard  to  bear,  and  the  inclination  to 
gratify  that  appetite  frequently  gets  the  better 
of  reason,  and  makes  us  do  what  our  judgment 
disapproves.  Every  peasant,  however,  knows, 

*  People  imagine  if  agoodjire  is  made  in  a 
room  after  it  has  been  washed,  that  there  is  no 
danger  from  sitting  in  it;  but  they  must  give  me 
leave  to  say  that  this  increases  the  danger.  Tht 


266  THE    POLAR   STAK. 

if  liis  horse  be  permitted  to  drink  his  bellyful  of 
cold  water  after  violent  exercise,  and  be  imme- 
diately put  into  the  stable,  or  suffered  to  remain 
at  rest,  that  it  will  kill  him.  This  they  take 
the  utmost  care  to  prevent.  It  were  well  if  they 
were  equally  attentive  to  their  own  safety. 

Thirst  may  be  quenched  many  ways  without 
swallowing  large  quantities  of  cold  liquor. 
The  iields  afford  variety  of  acid  fruits  and 
plants,  the  very  chewing  of  which  would  abate 
thirst.  Water  kept  in  the  mouth  for  some  time, 
and  spit  out  again,  if  frequently  repeated,  will 
have  the  same  effect.  If  a  bit  of  bread  be  eaten 
along  with  a  few  mouth fuls  of  water,  it  will  both 
quench  thirst  more  effectually  and  make  the 
danger  less.  When  a  person  is  extremely  hot,  a 
mouthful  of  brandy,  or  other  spirits,  if  it  can  be 
obtained,  ought  to  be  preferred  to  any  thing  else. 
But  if  any  one  has  been  so  foolish,  when  hot,  as 
to  drink  freely  of  eold  liquor,  he  ought  to  con- 
tinue his  exercise  at  least  till  what  he  drank  be 
thoroughly  warmed  upon  his  stomach. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  all  the  bad 
effects  whieli  flow  from  drinking  cold  liquors 
when  the  body  is  hot.  Sometimes  this  has  occa- 
sioned immediate  death.  Hoarseness,  quinseys, 
and  fevers  of  various  kinds,  are  its  common  con- 
sequences. Neither  is  it  safe  when  warm  to  eat 
freely  of  raw  fruits,  sallads,  or  the  like.  These 

ernporation  excited  by  the  fire  generates  cold,  and 
renders  tlie  damp  more  active. 


THE    POLAR    STAK.  267 

indeed  have  not  so  sudden  an  effect  on  the  body 
as  cold  liquors,  hut  they  are  notwithstanding 
dangerous,  and  ought  to  be  avoided. 

Sitting  in  a  warm  room,  and  drinking  hot  li- 
quors till  the  pores  are  quite  open,  and  immedi- 
ately going  into  the  cold  air,  is  extremely  dan- 
gerous. Colds,  coughs,  and  inflammation  of  the 
breast,  are  the  usual  effects  of  this  conduct  :  yet 
nothing  is  more  common  than  for  people,  after 
they  have  drank  warm  liquors  for  several  hours, 
to  walk  or  ride  a  number  of  miles  in  the  coldest 
night,  or  to  ramble  about  in  the  streets*. 

People  are  very  apt,  when  a  room  is  hot,  to 
throw  open  a  window,  and  to  sit  near  it.  This 
is  a  most  dangerous  practice.  Any  person  had 
better  sit  without  doors  than  in  such  a  situation, 
as  the  courant  of  air  is  directed  against  one  par- 
ticular part  of  the  body.  Inflammatory  fevers 
and  consumptions  have  often  been  occasioned  by 
sitting  or  standing  thinly  clothed  near  an  open 
window.  Nor  is  sleeping  with  open  windows 
less  to  be  dreaded.  That  ought  never  to  be  done, 

*  The  tap-rooms  in  London  and  other  great 
towns,  where  such  numbers  of  people  spend  their 
evenings,  are  highly  pernicious.  The  breath  of 
a  number  of  people  crowded  iulo  a  low  apartment, 
with  the  addition  of  jires,  candles,  the  smoke  of 
tobacco,  and  the  fumes  of  hot  liquor,  &c.  must 
not  only  render  it  hurtful  to  continue  in  such 
places,  fiut  dangerous  to  go  out  of  them  into  a 
cold  and  chilly  atmosphere. 


268  THE    POLAR   STAR. 

evea  in  the  hottest  season,  unless  the  window  is 
at  a  distance.  1  have  known  mechanics  fre- 
quently contract  fatal  diseases,  by  working  stript 
at  an  open  window*  and  would  advise  all  of  them 
to  beware  of  such  a  practice. 

Few  things  expose  people  more  to  catch  cold 
than  keeping  their  own  houses  too  warm ;  such 
persons  may  be  said  to  live  in  a  sort  of  hot- 
houses; they  can  hardly  stir  abroad  to  visit  a 
neighbour,  but  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives. 
Were  there  no  other  reason  for  keeping  houses 
moderately  cool,  that  alone  is  sufficient :  but  n$ 
house  that  is  too  hot  can  be  wholesome  ;  heat 
destroys  the  spring  and  elasticity  of  the  air,  and 
renders  it  less  fit  for  expanding  the  lungs,  and 
the  other  purposes  of  respiration.  Hence  it  is, 
that  consumptions  and  other  diseases  of  the  lungs 
prove  so  fatal  to  people  who  work  in  forges, 
glass-houses,  and  the  like. 

Some  are  even  so  fool-hardy,  as  to  plunge 
themselves  when  hot  into  cold  water.  Not  only 
fevers,  but  madness  itself,  has  frequently  been 
the  effect  of  this  conduct.  Indeed  it  looks  too 
like  the  action  of  a  madman  to  deserve  a  serious 
consideration. 

The  result  of  all  these  observations  is,  that 
every  one  ought  to  avoid,  with  the  utmost  atten- 
tion, all  sudden  transitions  from  heat  to  cold, 
and  to  keep  the  body  in  as  uniform  a  temperature 


THE  FOIAK  STAR.  569 

as  possible  ;  or,  where  that  cannot  be  done,  to 
take  care  to  let  if.  co?>l  gradually. 

People  may  imagine  that  too  strict  an  atten- 
tion to  these  things  would  tend  to  render  them 
delicate.  So  far  however  is  this  from  being  my 
design,  that  the  very  first  rule  proposed  for  pre- 
venting colds,  is  to  harden  the  body,  by  enuring 
it  daily  to  the  open  air. 

I  shall  put  an  end  to  what  relates  to  this  part 
of  my  subject,  by  giving  an  abstract  of  the  justly 
celebrated  advice  of  Celsus,  with  respect  to  the 
preservation  of  health.  "  A  man,"  says  he 
"  who  is  blessed  with  good  health,  should  con- 
fine himself  to  no  particular  rules,  either  with 
respect  to  regimen  or  medicine.  He  ought  fre- 
quently to  diversify  his  manner  of  living  ;  to  be 
sometimes  in  town,  sometimes  in  the  country ; 
to  hunt,  sail,  indulge  himself  in  rest,  but  more 
frequently  to  use  exercise.  He  ought  to  refuse 
no  kind  of  food  that  is  commonly  used,  but  some- 
times to  eat  more  and  sometimes  less ;  some- 
times to  make  one  at  an  entertainment,  and 
sometimes  to  forbear  it;  to  make  rather  two 
meals  a  day  than  one,  and  always  to  eat  heartily, 
provided  he  can  digest  it.  He  ought  neither  too 
eagerly  to  pursue,  nor  too  scrupulously  to  avoid, 
intercourse  with  the  fair  sex:  pleasures  of  this 
kind,  rarely  indulged,  render  the  body  alert  and 
active  j  but  when  too  frequently  repeated,  weak 


270  THE  POLAR   STAK. 

and  languid.  He  should  be  careful  in  time  of 
health  not  to  destroy,  by  excesses  of  any  kind, 
that  vigour  of  the  constitution  which  should  sup- 
port him  under  sickness.'9 

DECOCTIONS. 

Compound  Decoction  of  the  Bark. 

Take  of  Peruvian  bark  and  Virginian  snake- 
roof,  grossly  powdered,  each  three  drachms. 
Boil  thern  in  a  pint  of  water  to  one  half.  To  the 
strained  liquor  add  an  ounce  and  a  half  of  aro- 
matic water. 

Sir  John  Pringle  recommends  this  as  a  pro- 
per medicine  towards  the  decline  of  malignant 
fevers,  when  the  pulse  is  low,  the  voice  weak, 
and  the  head  affected  with  a  stupor  but  with  lit- 
tle delirium. 

The  dose  is  four  spoonfuls  every  fourth  or 
sxth  hour. 

Decoction  of  sarsaparilla. 

Take  a  fresh  sarsaparilla  root,  sliced  and 
bruised,  two  ounces ;  shavings  of  guaiacum 
wood,  one  ounce.  Boil  over  a  slow  fire,  in  three 
quarts  of  water,  to  one  ;  adding  towards  the 
end,  half  an  ounce  of  sassafras  wood,  and  three 
drachms  of  liquorice.  Strain  the  deeoction. 


THE   JPOLAR   STAR. 

This  may  either  be  employed  as  an  assistant 
to  a  course  of  mercurial  alteratives,  or  taken 
after  the  mercury  has  been  used  for  some  time. 
It  strenghtens  the  stomach,  and  restores  flesh 
and  vigour  to  habits  emaciated  by  the  venereal 
disease.  It  may  also  be  taken  in  the  rheuma- 
tism, and  cutaneous  disorders  proceeding  from 
foulness  of  the  blood  and  juices.  For  all  these 
intentions  it  is  greatly  preferable  to  the  <f«coe- 
tion  of  woods. 

This  decoction  may  be  taken,  from  a  pint  and 
a  half  to  two  quurts  in  the  day, 

The  following  decoction  is  said  to  be  similar  to 
that  used  by  Kennedy,  in  the  cure  of  the  vene- 
real disease,  and  may  supply  the  place  of  the 
Lisbon  diet  drink  : 

Take  of  sarsapariHa,  three  ounces  ;  liqmripe 
and  mezerion  root,  of  each  half  an  ounce ;  shav- 
ings of  guaiacuni  and  sassafras  wood,  of  each 
one  ounce  ;  crude  antimony,  powdered*  an  ounce 
and  a  half.  Infuse  these  ingredients  in  eight 
pints  of  boiling  water  for  twenty  four  hours, 
then  boil  them  till  one-half  of  the  water  is  con- 
sumed ;  afterwards  strain  the  decoction. 

This  decoction  may  be  used  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  preceding. 

Decoction  of  Seneka. 

Take  of  seneka  rattle-snake  root,  one  ounce  5 

x 


THE    POLAR   STAK. 

water,  a  pint  and  a  half.     Boil  to  one  pint,  and 
strain. 

This  decoction  is  recommended  in  the  pleu- 
risy, dropsy,  rheumatism,  and  some  obstinate 
disorders  of  the  skin.  The  dose  is  two  ounces, 
three  or  four  times  a-day,  or  oftener,  if  the 
stomach  will  bear  it. 

White  Decoction. 

Take  of  the  purest  chalk,  in  powder,  two 
ounces  ;  gum  arabic*  half  an  ounce ;  water, 
three  pints.  Boil  to  one  quart,  and  strain  the 
decoction. 

This  is  a  proper  drink  in  acute  diseases,  at- 
tended with,  or  inclining  to,  a  looseness,  and 
where  acidities  abound  in  the  stomach  or  bowels. 
li  is  peculiarly  proper  for  children  when  afflict- 
ed with  soreness  of  the  stomach,  and  for  persons 
who  are  subject  to  the  heartburn.  It  may  be 
sweetened  with  sugar,  as  it  is  used,  and  two  or 
three  ounces  of  simple  eiananion-water  added  to 
it. 

An  ounce  of  powdered  chalk,  m;xed  with  two 
pints  of  water,  will  occasionally  supply  the  place 
of  this  decoction,  and  aUo  of  the  chalk  julep. 

DRAUGHTS; 

Purging  Draught. 

Take  of  jalap  in  powder,  a  scruple  ;  common 
water  an  ounce ;  aromatic  tincture,  six  drachms. 


THE    POLAR   STAJU  273 

Hub  the  jalap  with   twice  its  weight  of  sugar* 
and  add  to  it  the  other  ingredients, 

Sweating  Draught, 

Take  spirit  of  Mindererus,  two  ounces;  salt 
of  hartshorn,  five  grains  °  simple  cinnamon  - 
water,  and  syrup  of. poppies,  of  each  half  an 
ounce.  Make  them  into  a  draught. 

In  recent  colds  and  rheumatic  complaints,  this 
draught  is  of  service.  To  promote  its  effects, 
however,  the  patient  ought  to  drink  freely  of 
warm  water  gruel,  or  of  some  ether  weak  dilut- 
ing liquor. 

Vomiting  Draughts. 

Take  of  ipecacuanha,  in  powder,  a  scruple  ; 
water,  an  ounce  j  simple  syrup,  a  drachm.  Mix 
them. 

Persons  who  require  a  strong  vomit  may  add 
to  the  above  half  a  grain,  or  a  grain,  of  emitic 
tartar. 

Those  who  do  not  chuse  the  powder,  may  take 
ten  drachms  of  the  ipecacuanha  wine  ;  or  half  an 
ounce  of  the  wine,  and  an  equal  quantity  of  the 
syrup  of  squills. 

ELECTUARIES. 

Electuaries   are    generally   composed  of  the 
Ighter  powders,  mixed  with  syrup,  honey,  eon- 


THE   POIAH   STAB. 

serve,  ov  mucilage,  into  such  a  consistence  thai 
the  powders  may  neither  separate  by  keeping, 
nor  'the  mass  prove  too  stiff  for  swallowing. 
They  receive  chiefly  the  milder  alterative  medi- 
cines, and  such  us  are  not  ungrateful  to  the  pal- 
ate. 

Astringent  electuaries,  and  such  as  have  pulps 
of  fruit  in  them,  should  be  prepared  only  io 
srruv!!  quantities  ;  as  astringent  medicines  lose 
their  virtues  by  being -kept  in  this  form,  and  the 
pulps  of  fruits  are  apt  to  ferment. 

For  the  extraction  of  pulps  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  boil  unripe  fruits,  and  ripe  ones  if  they 
arc  dried,, in  a  small  quantity  of  water  till  they 
become  soft.  The  pulp  is  then  to  be  pressed 
out  through  a  strong  hair  sieve,  or  thin  cloth* 
and  afterwards  boiled  to  a  due  consistence,  in  an 
earthen  vessel,  over  a  gentle  fire,  taking  care  to 
prevent  the  matter  from  burning  by  continually 
stirring  it.  The  pulps  of  fruits  that  are  both 
ripe  and  fresh  may  be  pressed  out  without  any 
previous  boiling. 

Electuary,  for  the  Gonorrhoea. 

Take  of  lenitive  electuary,  three  ounces ;  jalap 
and  rhubarb,  in  powder,  of  each  two  drachms; 
nitre,  half  an  ounce  $  simple  syrup,  enough  to 
make  an  electuary. 

During  the  inflammation  and  tension  of  the 


THE   POLAR  STAR.  27;; 

urinary  passages,  which  accompany  a  virulent 
gonorrhoea,  this  cooling  laxative  may  be  used 
with  advantage. 

The  dose  is  a  drachm,  or  about  the  bulk  of  a 
nutmeg,  two  or  three  times  a-day  ;  more  or  less, 
as  may  be  necessary  to  keep  the  body  gently 
open. 

An  electuary  made  of  cream  of  tartar  and  simple 
syrup  will  occasionally  supply  the  place  of  this. 

After  the  inflammation  is  gone  off,  the  following 
electuary  may  be  used : 

Take  of  lenitive  electuary,  two  ounces ;  bal- 
sam of  capivi,  one  ounce  ;  gum  guaiacum  and 
rhubarb,  in  powder,  of  each  two  drachms  ;  sim- 
ple syrup,  enough  to  make  an  electuary.  The 
<Jose  is  the  same  as  of  the  preceding. 

Electuary  of  the  Bark. 

Take  of  Peruvian  bark,  in  powder,  three  oun- 
ces ;  cascarilla,  bait*  an  ounce  ;  syrup  of  ginger, 
enough  to  make  an  electuary. 

In  the  cure  of  obstinate  intermitting  fevers, 
the  bark  is  assisted  by  the  casearilia.  In  hec- 
tic habits,  however,  it  will  be  better  to  leave  out 
the  cascarilla,  and  put  three  drachms  of  crude 
sal  ammoniac  in  its  stead. 

Electuary  for  the  Piles. 

Take  flowers  of  sulpher,  one  ounce  f  cream  of 
x  2 


476  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

tartar,  half  an  ounce  ;  treacle,  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity to  form  an  electuary. 

A  tea  spoonful  of  this  may  be  taken  three  or 
four  times  a- day. 

Electuary  for  the  Palsy. 

Take  of  powdered  mustard-seed,  &nd  conserve 
of  roses,  each  an  ounce ;  syrup  of  ginger,  enough 
to  make  an  electuary. 

A  tea- spoonful  of  this  may  be  taken  three  or 
four  times  a-day. 

'Electuary  for  the  Eheumatism. 

Take  of  conserve  of  roses,  two  ounces  ;  cin- 
nabar of  antimony,  levigated,  an  ounce  and  a 
half;  gum  guaiaeum,  in  powder,  an  ounce  ;  syrup 
of  ginger,  a  sufficient  quantity  to  make  an  elect- 
uary. 

In  obstinate  rheumatisms,  which  are  not  ac- 
companied with  a  fever,  a  tea- spoonful  of  this 
electuary  may  be  taken  twice  a-day  with  con- 
siderable advantage. 

EMULSIONS. 

Camphorated  Emulsion. 

Take  of  camphor,  half  a  drachm  ;  sweet  al- 
monds, half  a  dozen;  white  sugar,  half  an 
mince  ;  mint  water,  eight  ounces.  Grind  the 


THE   POLAR   STAR,  277 

camphor  and  almonds  well  together  in  a  stone 
mortar,  and  add  by  degrees  the  mint  water  ;  then 
strain  the  liquor,  and  dissolve  in  it  the  sugar. 

In  fevers,  and  other  disorders  which  require 
the  use  of  camphor,  a  table  spoonful  of  this 
emulsion  may  be  taken  every  two  or  three  hours* 

Emulsion  of  Gum  Jlmmoniac. 

Take  of  gum  ammoniac,  two  drachms;  water, 
eight  ounces.  Grind  the  gum  with  the  water 

poured  upon  it  by  little  and  little,  till  it  is  dis- 
solved. 

This  emulsion  is  used  for  attenuating  tough 9 
viscid  phlegm,  and  promoting  expectoration. 
In  obstinate  coughs,  two  ounces  of  the  syrup  of 
poppies  may  be  added  to  it.  The  dose  is  two 
table- spoonfuls  three  or  four  times  a-day. 

Purging  Pills. 

Take  of  succotorine  aloes,  and  Castile  soap, 
each  two*  drachms  ;  of  simple  syrup,  a  sufficient 
quantity  to  make  them  into  pills. 

Four  or  five  of  these  pills  will  generally  prove 
a  sufficient  purge.  For  keeping  the  body  gently 
open,  one  may  be  taken  night  and  morning. 
They  are  reckoned  both  deobstruent  and  stom- 
achic, and  will  be  found  to  answer  all  the  pur* 
poses~4>f  Dr,  Anderson's  pills,  the  principal  in- 
gredient of  which  is  aloes. 


2?T8  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

Where  aloetic  purges  are  improper,  the  fol- 
lowing pills  may  be  used  : 

Take  extract  of  jalap,  and  vitriolated  tartar, 
of  eaeb  two  drachms  ;  syrup  of  ginger,  as  much 
as  will  make  them  of  a  proper  consistence  fop 
pills. 

These  pills  may  be  taken  in  the  same  quantity 
as  the  above. 

Strengthening  Pill. 

Take  soft  extract  of  the  bark,  and  salt  of 
steel,  each  a  drachm.  Make  it  into  pills. 

In  disorders  arising  from  excessive  debility, 
or  relaxation  of  the  solids,  as  the  chlorosis,  or 
green  sickness,  two  of  these  pills  may  be  taken 
three  times  a-day. 

PLAISTERS. 

Take  of  common  plaister,  half  a  pound  ;  Bur- 
gundy pitch,  a  quarter  of  a  pound.  Melt  them 
together. 

This  plaister  is  principally  used  foj»  keeping 
on  other  dressings. 

•Anodyne  Plaister. 

Melt  an  ounce  of  adhesive  plaister,  and,  when 
it  is  cooling,  mix  with  it  a  drachm  of  powdered 
opium,  and  the  same  quantity  of  camphor,  pre- 
viously rubbed  up  with  a  little  oil. 


THE   POLAR   STAR. 

This  plaister  generally  gives  ease  in  acute 
pains,  especially  of  the  nervous  kind. 

Blistering  Plaister. 

Take  of  Venice  turpentine,  six  ounces ;  yellow 
wax,  two  ounces  ;  Spanish  flies  in  fine  powder, 
three  ounces  ;  powdered  mustard,  one  ounce. 
Melt  the  wax,  and  while  it  is  warm,  add  to  it  the 
turpentine  taking  care  not  to  evaporate  it  hy  too 
much  heat.  After  the  turpentine  and  wax  are 
sufficiently  incorporated,  sprinkle  in  the  powders, 
continually  stirring  the  mass  till  it  be  cold. 

Though  this  plaister  is  made  in  a  variety  of 
ways,  one  seldom  meets  with  it  of  a  proper  con- 
sistence. When  compounded  with  oils  and  other 
greasy  substances,  its  effects  are  blunted,  and  it 
is  apt  to  run  ;  while  pitch  and  resin  render  it  too 
hard  and  very  inconvenient. 

When  the  blistering  plaister  is  not  at  hand,  its 
place  may  be  supplied  by  mixing  with  any  soft 
ointment  a  sufficient  quantity  of  powdered  flies; 
or  by  forming  them  into  a  paste  with  flour  and 
vinegar. 

Gum  Plaister* 

Take  of  the  common  plaister,  four  pounds ; 
gum  ammoniac  and  gal  bun  urn,  strained,  of  each 
half  a  pound.  Melt  them  together,  and  add,  of 
Venice  turpentine,  six  ounces. 


280  THE  FOLAK    STAB. 

This  plaister  is  used  as  a  digestive,  and  like- 
wise for  discussing  indolent  tumours. 

Mercurial  Plaister. 

Take  of  common  plaister,  one  pound  ;  of  gum 
ammoniac,  strained,  half  a  pound.  Melt  them 
together,  and,  when  cooling,  add  eight  ounces  of 
quick-silver,  previously  extinguished  by  triture, 
with  three  ounces  of  hog's  lard. 

This  plaister  is  recommended  in  pains  of  the 
limbs  arising  from  a  venereal  cause.  Indurations 
of  the  glands,  and  other  violent  tumours,  are 
likewise  found  sometimes  to  yield  to  it. 

Stomctch  Plaister. 

Take  of  gum  plaister,  half  a  pound  ;  cam- 
phorated oil,  an  ounce  and  a  half;  black  pepper* 
or  capsicum,  where  it  can  be  had,  one  ounce* 
Melt  the  plaister,  and  mix  with  it  the  oil ;  then 
sprinkle  in  the  pepper,  previously  reduced  to  a 
fine  powder. 

An  ounce  or  two  of  this  plaister,  spread  upon 
soft  leather  and  applied  to  the  region  of  the 
stomach,  Mill  be  of  service  in  flatulencies  arising 
from  hysteric  and  hypochondriac  affections.  A 
little  of  the  expressed  oil  of  mace,  or  a  few  drops 
of  the  essential  oil  of  mint,  may  be  rubbed  upon 
it  before  it  is  applied. 

This  may  supply  the  place  of  the  Antibysterle 
Plaister. 


THE   POLAR   STAR. 

Warm  Plaister. 

Take  of  gum  plaister,  one  ounce ;  blistering 
two  drachms.  Melt  them  together  over  a  gentle 
fire. 

This  plaistcr  is  useful  in  the  sciatica  find  other 
fixed  pains  of  the  rheumatic  kind  :  it  ought, 
bow-ever,  to  be  worn  for  some  time,  and  to  be 
renewed,  at  least  once  a  week.  If  this  is  found 
to  blister  the  part,  which  is-sometimes  the  case, 
it  must  be  made  with  a  smaller  proportion  of  the 
blistering  plaister. 

POWDERS. 
Ca  rminative  Pow  der. 

Take  of  coriander-seed,  half  an  ounce  ;  ginger, 
one  drachm  ;  nutmegs  half  a  drachm ;  fine  sugar, 
a  drachm  and  a  half.  Reduce  them  into  powder 
for  twelve  doses. 

This  powder  is  employed  for  expelling  flatu- 
lencies arising  from  indigestion,  particularly 
those  to  which  hysteric  and  hypochondriac  per- 
sons are  so  liable.  It  may  likewise  he  given  in 
small  quantities  to  children  in  their  food,  when 
troubled  with  gripes. 

Diuretic   Powder. 

Take  of  gum  arabic,  four  ounces;  purified 
nitre,  one  ounce.  Pound  them  together,  and  di- 
vide the  whole  into  twenty -four  doses. 

During  the  iii'st  stage  of  the  venereal  disease, 


282  THE   POtAR  STAR. 

one  of  these  cooling  powders  may  be  taken  three 
times  a-day,  with  considerable  advantage. 
Aromatic  Opening  Powder. 

Take  of  the  best  Turkey  rhubarb,  cinnamon? 
and  fine  sugar,  each  two  drachms.  Let  the  in- 
gredients be  pounded,  and  afterwards  mixed 
iveil  together. 

Where  flatulency  is  accompanied  with  costive- 
Bess,  a  tea-spoonful  of  this  powder  may  be  taken 
once  or  twice  a-day,  according  to  circumstances. 
Saline  Laxative  Powder. 

Take  of  soluble  tartar,  and  cream  of  tartar, 
each  one  drachm  :  purified  nitre,  half  a  drachm* 
Make  them  into  a  powder. 

In  fevers  and  other  inflammatory  disorders, 
where  it  is  necessary  to  keep  the  body  gently 
open,  one  of  these  cooling  laxative  powders  may 
be  taken  in  a  little  gruel,  and  repeated  occasion- 
ally. 

Steel  Powder. 

Take  filings  of  steel,  and  loaf  sugar,  of  each 
two  ounces  ;  ginger  two  drachms.  Pound  them 
together. 

In  obstruction  of  the  menses,  and  other  cases 
where  steel  is  proper,  a  tea- spoonful  of  this  pow- 
der may  be  taken  twice  a  day,  and  washed  down 
with  a  little  wine  or  water. 

Sudorific  Powder. 

Take  purified  nitre  and  vitriolated  tartar,  of 
each  half  an  ounce;  opium  and  ipecacuanha*  of 


THE   fOLAfc   STAtt.  28$ 

each  one  drachm.     Mix  the  ingredients,  and  re- 
duce them  to  a  fine  powder. 

This  is  generally  known  by  the  name  of  Do- 
^vcr's  Powder.  It  is  a  powerful  sudorific.  In 
obstinate  rheumatisms,  and  other  cases  where  it 
is  necessary  to  excite  a  copious  sweat,  this  pow- 
der may  be  administered  in  the  dose  of  a  scruple 
or  half  a  drachm.  Some  patients  will  require 
two  scruples.  It  ought  to  be  accompanied  with 

the  plentiful  use  of  some  warm  diluting  liquor* 

• 

Worm-Powders. 

Take  of  tin  reduced  into  a  fine  powfler,  aft 
ounce;  JEthiop's  mineral,  two  drachms.  Mix 
them  well  together,  and  divide  the  whole  into 
six  doses. 

One  of  these  powders  may  be  taken  in  a  little 
syrup,  honey,  or  treacle,  twice  a-day.  After 
they  have  been  all  used  the  following  anthelmin- 
tic  purge  may  be  proper* 

Purging  Worm-Powder*, 

Take  of  powdered  rhubarb,  a  scruple  ,  scam* 
mony  and  calomel,  of  each  five  grains*  Rub 
them  together  in  a  mortar  for  one  dose. 

For  children  the  above  doses  must  be  lessened 
•according  to  their  age. 

If  the  powder  of  tin  be  given  alone,  its  dose 


S84  THE   POLAR   STAR. 

may  be  considerably  increased.  The  late  Dr, 
Alston  gave  it  to  the  amount  of  two  ounces  in 
three  days,  and  says,  when  thus  administered, 
that  it  proved  an  egregious  anthelmintie.  He 
purged  his  patients  both  before  they  took  the 
jowderand  afterwards. 

Powder  far  t  he  Tape-  Worm. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  patient  is  to  take  in 
any  liquid,  two  or  three  drachms,  according  to 
his  age  and  constitution,  of  the  root  of  the  male 
fern  reduced  into  a  fine  :powder.  About  two 
hours  afterwards,  he  is  to  take  of  calomel  and 
resin  of  scammony,  each  ten  grains ;  gum  gam- 
boge, six  grains.  These  ingredients  must  be 
finely  powdered  and  given  in  a  little  syrup,  ho- 
ney, treacle,  or  any  thing  that  is  most  agreeable 
to  the  patient.  He  is  then  to  walk  gently  about* 
now  and  then  drinking  a  dish  of  weak  green 
tea,  till  the  worm  is  passed.  If  the  powder  of 
the  fern  produces  nausea,  or  sickness,  it  may  be 
removed  by  sucking  the  juice  of  an  orange  or 
lemon. 

This  medicine,  which  had  been  long  kept  a  se- 
cret abroad  for  the  cure  of  the  tape-worm,  was 
some  time  ago  purchased  by  the  French  king, 

and  made  public  for  the  benefit  of  mankind 

Not  having  had  an  opportunity  of  trying  it,  I  can 
say  nothing  from  experience  concerning  its  effi« 


THE  TOLAR   STAR.  285 

eaey.  It  seems,  however,  from  Us  ingredients, 
to  be  an  active  medicine,  and  ought  to  be  taken 
with  care.  The  dose  here  prescribed  is  suffici- 
ent for  the  strongest  patient  ;  it  must,  therefore, 
be  reduced  according  to  the  age  and  constitution* 

WHEYS. 

Mum  Whey. 

Boil  two  drachms  of  powdered  alum  in  a  pint 
of  milk  till  it  is  curdled;  then  strain  out  the 
whey. 

This  whey  is  beneficial  in  an  immoderate  flow 
of  the  menses,  and  in  a  diabetes,  or  excessive  dis- 
charge of  urine. 

The  dose  is  two,  three,  or  four  ounces,  accord- 
ing as  the  stomach  will  bear  it,  -three  times  a- 
d  ty^  If  it  should  occasion  vornitthig,  it  may  be 
diluted. 

CURE  FOR  A  WEN. 

READING  an  account  of  a  wen  extracted, 
a  friend  of  mine,  (Mr.  William  G.  Forbes,) 
mentioned  a  case  wherein  he  had  witnessed 
an  entire  cure  of  one  of  the  largest  wens,  by  the 
most  simple  means.  His  son  was  afflicted  for 
may  years  hy  one  of  those  tumours,  when  a  very 
respectable  neighbor,  (Mr.  Samuel  Hallock)  told 
the  circumstance  of  a  young  school  girl  effecting 
a  cure  of  one,  by  rubbing  i<  every  day  as  she 


9FHE   POLAR   STAI*. 

passed  to  and  from  school,  with  the  Juice  or  mfffe 
of  wild  cotton  weeds,  which  finally  destroyed  the 
-wen.  This  reinedy  was  then  resorted  to  hy  the 
young  man,  and  in  the  course  of  the  summer  the 
tumour  disappeared.  This  juice  must  he  applied 
several  times  a  day  for  a  length  of  time,  and  it 
will  give  a  happy  result  to  all  who  may  choose 
to  adapt  it  for  a  remedy. 

Cure  for  the  Quin&ey  or  Putrid  Sore  Throat. 

Take  a  handful  of  hops,  steep  them  in  spirits 
and  apply  a  common  funnel  to  the  liquid.  Let 
the  patient  apply  the  funnel  to  his  throat,  and 
thereby  inhale  the  steam.  Let  the  hops  be  ap- 
plied as  a  poltiee  to  the  throat,  and  occasional- 
ly repeated. 

Cure  for  the  Me.  of  a  Hattle  Snake. 

Take  the  roots  of  plantain  or  hoarhound,  (in 
summer  roots  and  branches  together,)  in  a  suffi- 
cient quantity;  bruise  them  in  a  mortar  and 
squeeze  out  the  juice  ;  of  which,  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble, take  one  spoonful ;  if  the  patient  is  swelled, 
you  must  force  it  down  his  or  her  throat.  This 
generally  will  cure ;  but  if  the  patient  finds  no 
relief  in  an  hour  after,  you  may  give  another 
spoanful ;  which  never  fails.  If  the  roots  are 
dried,  they  must  be  moistened  with  a  little  water. 

To  the  wound  may  be  applied  a  leaf  of  good 
tobacco  moistened  with  rum. 


THE    POLAR   STAB. 

Weak  Eyes. 

A  piece  of  green  glass  laid  flat  on  a  book,  will 
fee  of  the  utmost  benefit  to  those  who  are  trou- 
bled with  weak  eyes.  Some  will  say  you  might 
as  well  wear  green  spectacles  ;  but  I  say  no  !  a 
piece  of  fine  clear  glass,  about  the  size  of  a  roy- 
al octavo  page,  will  be  found  of  infinitely  more 
assistance.  A  young  gentleman  about  the  age  of 
sixteen,  was  learning  on  the  flute  ;  but  before  he 
could  play  a  note  he  was  obliged  to  have  the  music 
coloured,  either  green  or  blue.  He  tried  green 
spectacles  (as  his  eyes  were  extremely  weak,) 
but  they  did  not  answer  the  end.  Being  one  day 
in  the  garden,  he  placed  a  piece  of  glass  in  his 
book  and  found  that  he  could  bear  to  read  with- 
out the  smallest  inconvenience — he  procured  a 
fine  piece,  and  now  can  play  for  an  hour  with 
the  greatest  pleasure. 

Cure  for  the  Whooping  Cough, 
Take  a  wine  glass  of  rum,  and  half  as  much  of 
spirits  of  turpentine,  shake  them  well  together, 
and  rub  the  child  by  the  fire  gontJy  down  the 
neck  and  chin,  night  and  morning.  In  a. few 
days  the  cough  will  be  cured. 


TUB    POLAR   STAK. 

A  MORNING  PRAYER, 

to  l)t  used  every  day  in  the  ivzcl;. 

0  lei  me  hear  thy  loving  kindness  betimes  in  the 
morning,  for  in  thee  is  my  trust :  show  tliou  me 
the  way  that  I  should  walk  in,  for  I  lift  up  my 
soul  unto  thee.  Psal,  cxliii.  8. 

O  Most  mighty  and  gracious  God,  to  whom 
I  am  indebted  for  all  the  good  things  I  enjoy  5, 
for  in  thee  I  live,  and  move,  and  have  my  be- 
ing; I  desire  to  adore  and  bless  thy  glorious 
name,  humbly  beseeching  thee  to  accept  this  my 
morning  sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  ior 
the  comfortable  refreshment  of  the  night  past, for 
thy  preservation  of  me  [and  my  family  9  and  all 
lhat  belongs  to  me]  from  lire,  robbery,  and  tem- 
pest, and  from  all  perils  and  dangers,  and  espe- 
cially for  bringing  me  in  health  and  safety  to  the 
beginning  of  this  day  ;  in  which  I  beseech  thee, 
O  Lord,  to  keep  me  without  sin. 

Give  me  awful  thoughts  of  thy  Divne  Majesty, 
and  such  an  humble,  serious,  and  devout  frame 
of  mind,  that  my  adoration  may  not  rest  in  a 
mere  outward  form  of  godliness,  but  that  I  may 
always  offer  unto  thee  a  lively  sacrifice,  holy  and 
acceptable  in  thy  sight. 

Be  with  me,  O  Lord,  this  day  in  all  places  and 
upon  all  occasions  :  direct  and  guide  me,  sancti- 
fy and  preserve  me  :  keep  me  both  outwardly  in 
jny  body,  and  inwardly  in  my  soul:  defend  rac 


THE   POLAR    STAB.  289 

from  the  power  and  malice  of  the  devil,  from  the 
corruptions  of  my  own  sinful  nature,  and  from 
those  sins  especially,  that  seem  most  habitual  to 
me.  Pardon,  I  beseech  thee,  all  the  sins  T  have  at 
anytime  committed.  Grant  that  I  may  die  unto 
sin,  and  rise  again  unto  righteousness;  that 
henceforth  being  freed  from  sin,  all  things  be* 
longing  to  the  Spirit  may  live  and  grow  in  me. 

AN  EVENING  PRAYER, 

f  o  be  used  any  day  in  the  week. 

Lord  let  my  prayer  be  set  forth  in  thy  sight  as 
the  incense,  and  let  the  lifting  up  of  my  hands  be 
an  evening  sacrifice.  Psal.  cxli.  2. 

O  LORD  !  thou  hatest  iniquity  with  a  perfect 
hatred,  yet  I  am  assured,  that  thou  delightest  in 
the  ways  of  mercy  ;  that  thou  art  a  tender  lover 
of  souls,  and  not  only  permittest,  but  invitest  us, 
miserable  creatures,  to  come  unto  thee.  With 
humble  confidence,  then,  O  Lord,  I  lift  up  my  soul 
unto  thee,  beseeching  thee,  in  much  mercy,  to 
look  upon  me,  and  to  ease  me  of  the  burden  of 
my  corrupt  and  sinful  inclinations. 

Forgive,  I  meekly  beseech  thee,  whatever  I 
have  done  amiss  this  day,  and  all  my  life  past, 
either  against  thee,  my  neighbour,  or  myself;  O 
cleanse  me  from  all  my  secret  and  unknown 
transgressions — and,  O  merciful  Father,  grant 
that  I  may  seriously  consider  and  reflect  upos 


J290  THE   TOXAK   STAK. 

the  foulness  and  deformity  of  sin,  and  what 
dreadful  threatenings  thou  hast  denounced 
against  it :  that  I  may  become  a  true  and  sincere 
mourner  for  my  past  sins  ;  and,  as  far  as  is  pos- 
sible, redeem  my  mispent  time*  hy  employing  the 
remainder  of  my  days  in  thy  service,  and  to  thy 
glory. 

Give  me,  O  Lord,  anew  heart,  new  affections, 
r  and  new  desires  ;  that  I  may  love thee  with  more 
sincerity,    and  serve  thee  with  greater  faithful- 
ness than  I  have  ever  yet  done. 

Teach  me,  ()  Lord,    so  to   number  my  daysr 
that  I  may  apply  my  heart  unto  true  wisdom. 

Let  me  never  he  separated  from  thee  ;  but 
grant  that  I  may  be  of  the  number  of  thy  faith- 
ful and  obedient  servants,  who  are  united  to  thee 
by  grace  and  good  works  in  this  life,  and  will 
hereafter  live  with  thee  in  endless  bliss  and  hap- 
piness. And, 

Grant  that  in  the  days  of  health  and  prosperity, 
I  may  consider  my  latter  end,  and  remember  and 
provide  for  that  great  account,  which  I  must 
one  day  give  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ; 
that  when  the  hour  of  my  departure  shall  come, 
I  may  meet  death  without  fear  and  amazement ; 
and  with  a  well  grounded  hope  of  thy  mercy  and 
goodness,  may  cheerfully  resign  up  my  soul  into 
thy  hands ;  and  may  be  willing  and  even  desirous 
to  leave  this  world,  when  thou,  my  God,  in  thy 
great  wisdom,  shall  see  it  fitting. 


THE    FOIAR    STAB. 

Be  mindful,  O  Lord,  of  all  that  are  in  any  af- 
fliction or  distress.  Relieve  and  comfort  those 
that  suffer  for  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience, 
or  that  labour  under  the  torments  of  a  wounded 
spirit.  Let  the  sorrowful  sighing  of  the  afflicted 
come  before  thee  ;  and  deliver  thorn,  in  thy  good 
time,  out  of  all  their  troubles. 


A  SERMON  FOR  CHILDREN. 

Isaiah,  chap.  xl.  verse  11. 

He  shall  feed  his  flock  like  a  shepherd,  he  shall 
gather  the  lambs  with  his  arms,  and  carry 
them  in  his  bosom. 

MANY  of  you,  my  little  friends*  have  spent 
your  pleasantest  hours  amidst  the  beauties  of  the 
garden,  and  the  flowers  of  the  field :  and  have 
you  not,  in  your  little  rambles,  seen  the  skipping 
lambs  looking  innocently  gay,  and  sporting  by 
the  side  of  their  dams?  It  delighted  you  to  see 
them  thus  happy,  and  enjoying  themselves  in  the 
cheerful  sunshine ;  but,  perhaps,  at  other  times, 
you  have  seen  the  tender  creatures  exposed  t.o 
stormy  winds,  or  pinching  frost ;  your  little 
hearts  have  pitied  them,  and  been  ready  to  fear 
that  the  severity  of  the  winter  would  destroy 
them.  In  this  distressed  situation,  how  delight- 
ful to  see  the  kind  shepherd  come  to  their 


292  THE  POLAR   STAH. 

gather  them  together,  and  lead  them  to  a  pi  £ee 
of  shelter  and  safety ! 

Delightful  indeed!  to  see  him  take  up  the 
tender  and  feehle  in  his  arms,  and  carry  them  in 
his  bosom,  till  the  little  creatures  are  revised 
and  cherished  ;  but  children,  I  can  tell  you  a 
more  pleasing  and  wonderful  thing  than  this. 
You  have  heard  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God, 
\vho  came  down  from  heaven  to  save  sinners.— 
You  have  heard  ho»v  great  and  glorious  a  per- 
son he  was  before  hecnuoe  into  our  world.  And 
will  it  tiot  surprise  you  to  lu-ar,  that  this  Jesus 
calls  himself  a  shepherd?  liis-  people,  those  who 
love  and  serve  him*  he  calls  his  sheep;  and  the 
you  g  and  tender,  such  as  you  are,  he  calls  his 
laiiibs. 

He  calls  you  lambs,  because  like  them  you  are 
young,  innocent,  and  helpless;  and  like  them 
you  Hy  to  others  for  safety  and  protection. 

You  are  but  of  yesterday,  and  know  but  little  : 
little  indeed  of  the  God  that  made  you,  of  the 
Saviour  who  came  to  redeem  you.  You  know 
liUle  of  the  world  in  which  you  live,  or  of  that 
Avorld  in  which  you  are  to  live  for  ever.  You 
stand  in  need  of  daily  instruction,  both  in  the 
concerns  of  your  soul  and  body ;  but  your  com- 
passionate shepherd  has  promised  that  he  will 
feed  his  flock;  he  will  feed  you  with  ^he  sincere 
milk  of  his  word,  that  you  may  grow  thereby. 


THE   POLAR   STAB. 

He  has  said,  Ask  and  ye  shall  receive,  seek 
and  ye  shall  find. 

Are  you  at  a  loss  what  to  ask?  Ask,  above  all 
things,  his  favour,  which  is  life;  and  his  loving- 
kindness  which  is  better  than  life.  Ask  him  to 
teach  you  more  of  himself,  of  his  greatness,  and 
his  goodness,  that  you  may  love  him  more, 
and  serve  him  better. 

You  are  not  only  ignorant,  but  like  the  feeble 
lamb,  you  are  helpless,  and  can  do  but  little  for 
your  own  safety  and  protection.  You  are  expos- 
ed to  many  dangers  that  you  know  nothing  of: 
there  are  many  disorders  to  which  your  infant 
years  are  liable,  and  a  thousand  accidents  to 
which  your  tender  frames  are  exposed. 

II  »w  happy,  amidst  all  this  weakness  and  dan- 
ger, to  reflect,  that  your  kind  shepherd  has  pro- 
mised to  gather  you  in  his  arms,  and  carry  you  in 
his  bosom. 

Your  parents  do  much  for  you,  and  you  have 
reason  to  thank  God  for  them.  But  Jtsus,  your 
kind  shepherd,  can  do  much  more,  he  can  supply 
all  you  need  ;  in  sickness  he  can  save  you,  and  in 
death  deliver  you ;  he  can  make  you  happy  in 
this  world,  and  happy  for  ever. 

Often  think,  children,  hew  much  love  and  com- 
passion are  contained  in  those  delightful  words: 
He  shall  gather  them  in  his  arms,  and  carry 
them  iu  his  bosoai.  You  Know  what  it  is  to  be 


THE -POLAR   STAH. 

folded  in  the  fond  arms  of  a  compassionate  fa- 
ther, and  to  hang  on  the  breast  of  a  tender  mo- 
ther. 

How  often  have  they  wiped  away  your  tears* 
and  eased  the  little  sorrows  ef  your  hearts!  and 
while  you  are -enjoy  ing  their  love  and  affection, 
think,  thus  has  my  kind  shepherd  promised  ta 
fold  me  in  his  arms.  How  condescending  in  him 
to  notice  such  an  ignorant  and  helpless  creature 
as  I  am!  What  an  honour  to  be  called  one  of  his 
lambs  !  How  safe  I  am  under  his  protection !  He 
is  almighty,  and  none  can  pluck  me  out  of  his 
hands.  The  Lord  is  my  shepherd;  I  shall  not 
want  any  thing  that  is  good  for  me. 

Blessed  Jesus*  I  desire  to  be  one  of  the  lamhs 
that  thou  wi't  gather  in  thy  arms,  and  carry  in 
thy  bosom.  I  am  ignorant,  but  I  come  to  thee 
that  I  may  be  taught — I  am  weak  and  helpless, 
but  I  fly  to  thy  arms  for  safety  and  protection. 
Make  me  one  of  thy  lambs,  in  love,  in  meek- 
ness, and  humility  ;  let  me  never  wander  from 
thee,  or  provoke  thee  to  east  me  out  of  thy  fold. 
Keep  me  from  every  danger  in  tins  world,  and 
fit  me  to  dwell  with  thee  for  ever,  in  thy  heaven- 
ly kingdom.  Amen. 


THE    POXAR    STAB,  295 

A  HYMN 

tin  the  nature  of  the  Sermon  before  ft. 

SEE  the  kind  shepherd,  Jesus,  stands, 

And  calls  his  sheep  by  name; 
Gathers  the  feeble  in  his  arms, 

And  feeds  the  tender  lamb. 

He'll  lead  us  to  the  heavnely  streams? 

Where  livi  ig  waters  flow, 
And  guide  us  to  the  fruitful  fields, 

Where  trees  of  knowledge  grow. 

When  wandering  from  the  fold,  we  leave 

The  strait  and  narrow  way, 
Our  faithful  shepherd  still  is  near, 

To  guide  us  when  we  stray. 

The  feeblest  lamb  amidst  the  (lock, 

Shall  be  its  shepherd's  care  ; 
W  bile  folded  in  our  Saviour's  arms, 

"We're  safe  from  ev'ry  snare. 


SERMON  II. 

John,  chap.  xxi.  verse  15. 
Feed  my  Lambs* 

YOU  Have  heard,  Children,  that  Jesus,  yotij? 
kind  shepherd,  while  he  was  here  upon 


206  THE    POLAR    STAR. 

folded  the  lambs  in  his  arms,  and  carried  them 
in  his  bosom  ;  and  as  he  was  now  about  to  leave 
this  world,  and  go  to  his  Father,  it  was  natural 
he  should  be  concerned  about  his  flock — what 
would  become  of  his  sheep  and  his  lambs?  he 
was  going  to  leave  them  in  a  world  full  of  diffi- 
culties and  dangers  ;  he  was  afraid  they  might 
meet  with  strange  shepherds  who  would  not  care 
for  the  flock,  nor  lead  them  into  good  pastures  ; 
and  that  they  would  be  like  sheep  having  no  shep- 
herd. 

As  Jesus  was  thus  caring  for  his  sheep,  he 
looked  around  upon  his  disciples,  and  fixing  his 
eyes  upon  Peter*  who  had  professed  to  love  him 
better  than  the  rest,  he  said  unto  him,  Simon, 
son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  me?  He  said  unto  him, 
Yea,  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  I  lo-'e  thee. 
He  saith  unto  him,  Feed  my  lambs.  Jesus  said 
unto  him  the  third  time,  Simon,  son  of  Jonas, 
lovest  thou  me  ?  Peter  was  grieved,  because  he 
said  unto  him  the  third  time,  Lovest  thou  me,? 
And  he  said  unto  him,  Lord,  thou  knowest  all 
things,  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee.  Jesus  said 
unto  him,  Feed  my  sheep. 

Why,  my  little  friends,  does  Jesus  so  often 
question  Peter  about  his  love  to  him  ?  he  knew 
that  Peter  did  indeed  love  him  ;  but  he  \*as  wil- 
ling to  try  Peter's  love,  and  to  show  how  much 
he  loved  you,  the  lambs  of  his  flock.  Dost  thou 


THE   POLAK   STAR. 

indeed  love  me,  Peter?  show  thy  love  to  me  by 
feeding  my  sheep ;  feed  my  lamhs  ;  feed  them 
with  the  sincere  milk  of  my  word,  that  they  may 
grow  thereby  ;  tell  them,  though  I  leave  tltis 
world,  and  go  to  the  Father,  that  I  still  love 
them ;  that  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  them, 
that  where  I  am,  there  they  may  he  also ;  that  I 
will  come  again,  and  receive  them  unto  myself, 
that  they  shall  never  perish  ;  and  that  none  shall 
pluck  them  out  of  my  hands.  Not  only  Peter 
but  all  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  are  shep*- 
herds,  sent  by  Jesus  Christ,  to  take  care  of  hi& 
flock  :  and  he  says  to  them,  as  well  as  to  Peter, 
Feed  my  sheep,  feed  my  lambs. 

Though  your  ministers  are  wise  and  learned, 
they  are  ready  to  instruct  the  young  and  igno- 
rant ;  they  are  content  to  leave  their  studies  and 
their  learning,  that  they  may  teach  you  the  first 
principles  of  religion,  and  the  love  of  God  ;  how 
you  may  be  happy  in  this  world,  and  happy  for 
ever  in  heaven.  And  will  you  not  oblige  them 
by  seriously  attending  to  their  instruction,  and 
endeavouring  to  grow  wise  unto  salvation  ?  And, 
they  not  only  instruct  you,  but  they  pray  for  you, 
they  often  bear  you  upon  their  hearts  before 
God  \  they  pray  that  you  may  grow  in  grace,  as 
well  as  in  stature,  and  in  favour  with  God  and 
man  ;  they  pray,  that  the  love  of  God  may  be 
slied  abroad  in  your  hearts,  and  that  you  may 
know  and  love  the  God  of  your 


THE   POLAH   STAB* 

And  if  they  thus  kindly  pray  for  you,  will  you 

:ty  for  them,   that  while  they  are  teaching 

,  '3   diey  may  be  themselves   taught  of  God, 

and  that  -they  may  be  blessed  with  every  spiritual 

Messhig  in  Christ  Jf  sits  ? 

^  u;w  amiable  to  see  the  minister  and  his  flock 

praying  for  eat  h  other. 

But  .:'•'*••> vv?  a •),    Cin.idre*u  pray  for  yourselves, 
AH?   God  would   enlighten  \ouv  mi  <ds  to  under- 
lie  Scriptures,,    wi/ic-h  are  abk  to  make 
MJ  u'v-'to  salvation,    IhAt  you  may  grow  iti 
;«;  in   xhe  knowledge    of  our   I^ord  n  id 
'•OI»T    Jesus  Chi'ist9    b^>    whom  ^Jone  you  t*an 
1  ;  that  when   Jesus  the  great    shepherd* 
r,.,'.ill  come  at  the  k^s  day  to  gather  his  sheep, to- 
gethetv  you  raay  appear  at  his  right  band  with 
joy 


A  HYMN. 

COME,  Children,  'tis  Jesus  that  calls, 
The  voice  of  jour  Saviour  oheyi 

When  Jesus  invites  you  to  come, 
No  disciple  shall  turn  you  away. 

The  children  he  folds  in  his  arms, 
Must  surely  be  blest  indeed; 

For  Jesus  alone  can  bestow. 

The  spiritual  blessings  they  need* 


THE  POLAR  STAH. 

Let  parents'  with  thankfulness  own, 
The  encouragement  Jesus  has  given. 

Delighted  to  hear  him  declare, 
Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven* 


JBF  THE  PUBLISHER. 


A  PRAYER  FOR  CHILDREN. 

O  MOST  infinitely  wise,  glorious,  and  ever 
to  be  admired.  Lord  our  God.  Look  down  upon 
us  thy  unworthy  children  ;  we  humbly  beseech 
thee  with  an  eye  of  love  and  compassion.  In- 
graft in  our  young  and  tender  hearts  true  reli- 
gion. Help  us,  we  pray  thee,  to  express  ourselves 
as  become  disciples  of  Christ,  to  supplicate  thy 
throne  of  mercy.  And  as  we  are  now  upon  our 
little  feeble  bended  knees,  with  hearts  of  praise, 
and  thanks  for  thy  innumerable  mercies,  but 
destitute  of  words  to  express  them.  Without  thy 
heavenly  aid,  which  we  earnestly  pray,  O  Lord, 
that  thou  wouldst  furnish  us  with  heavenly  ex- 
pressions, in  order  truly  to  perform  our  duty  to 
thee  the  living  and  true  God. 

We  thank  and  praise  thee,  most  merciful  God, 
that  there  are  still  some  of  thy  glorious  creation 
that  delighteth  in  our  welfare,  by  inserting  such 


300  THE   POL4R   STAB, 

heavenly  matters  as  these,  in  books  that  are  in- 
tended for  the  more  aged  and  learned  character* 
May  also  the  owners  of  these  books  be  as  good  as 
the  publisher,  to  glory  in  the  interest  of  us  lit- 
tle children,  and  take  pride  in  our  periling  them  ; 
particularly  those  parts  that  make  for  our  soul's 
salvation.  Lord  bless  all  our  friends  and  rela- 
tions. Heaven  be  with  the  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel— inspire  their  hearts  with  heavenly  language, 
gloriously  to  perform  their  duty  to  a  poor  and 
need>  congregation.  Lord  grant  that  all  our 
teachers  may  be  inspired  with  heavenly  wisdom 
from  thy  shining  courts  above,  which  may  en- 
able them  the  better  to  shew  us  little  innocent 
creatures  good  examples.  Lord  grant  us  health 
of  body  and  brightness  of  mind,  so  that  we  may 
progress  rapidly  in  our  learning,  that  we  may  at 
length  become  a  glorious  ornament  to  all  that 
behold  us  ;  so  that  our  aged  parents,  when  the 
Almighty  is  pleased  to  call  them,  can  cheerfully 
depart  this  life  under  the  blessed  consolation  of 
leaving  dutiful  children  behind  them. 

And  O  Lord,  that  we  may  in  this  life  givethee 
reason  to  say  as  thou  didst  of  old,  «  Come  unto 
me  ye  little  children,  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  inherit  the  joys  prepared  for  you 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 


THB   PCKL4R   STAR.  301 

Obedience  to  Parents. 

LET  children  that  would  fear  the  Lord, 

Hear  what  their  teachers  say, 
With  rev'rence  meet  their  parents'  word. 

And  with  delight  obey. 

Have  we  n<»t  heard  what  dreadful  plagues 

Are  threatened  by  the  Lore), 
To  him  who  breaks  his  fathsr's  law? 

Or  mocks  his  mother's  word  ? 

What  heavy  guilt  upon  him  lies ! 

How  cursed  is  his  name ! 
The  ravens  shall  pk-k  out  his  eyes> 

And  eagles  eat  the  same. 

But  those  that  worship  God,  and  give 

Their  parents  honour  due, 
Here  on  this  earth  they  long  shall  live, 

And  live  hereafter  too. 

O  may  these  lines  my  children  dear. 
Which  I  to  you  have  given  ; 

Be  instrumental  of  your  good, 
And  stear  you  safe  to  heaven. 

SHARAN. 


********** 

*  F/JV'IS,  I 

*  * 

********** 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY— TEL.  NO.  642-3405 
This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

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